Those Nights
by ShyShinobi
Summary: Au. Hinata, a quiet, abused girl. Sasuke, a popular kid with parents who won't stop fighting. Follow them as they struggle through life and school. Rated for child abuse.
1. Meeting

**A/N- I was going to put on here a thank you to another author, but isn't letting me put her name up and I'm not sure why. So, instead, I'm just going to tell oyu that you should really look up her story. It's what inspired me to write this one and It has the same title!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or the song Those Nights. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Those Nights belongs to Skillet and whoever else has rights to it. I am in no way making money off this fic, nor do I plan to.**

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><p>"You can't even serve me tea right, you useless child!" screamed a very angry Hiashi at his cowering eldest daughter bowing in front of him. Bringing back his foot, Hiashi harshly kicked the girl's small form, causing her to fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. A yelp of pain was heard from the fragile girl as she hit the ground, holding her side.<p>

"I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to! Please st-stop!" Hinata pleaded from her spot on the ground.

"Get up," ordered Hiashi, kicking her again. Slowly, Hinata obliged. Once she was able to stand her father punched her stomach. Dubbling over in pain and holding her now bruised belly, Hinata fought the tears threatening to fall. She knew crying would only make him angrier. "Clean up your mess."

"Y-yes, Father." Hiashi turned on his heal and stalked out of the room, leaving his daughter to clean up the broken glass and tea from the hardwood floor of his study. Hinata was supposed to deliver Hiashi his morning tea, as she always did, but had woken up late. In her hurry to get her father his tea on time, so she wouldn't receive another beating she had tripped walking into his study. The glass and its contents hit the floor as she dropped them to catch herself. Needless to say, Hiashi hadn't been too happy to see his beloved tea in a puddle on the ground. Now Hinata was stuck cleaning up the mess she caused.

As she carefully picked up the broken shards of glass her mind began to wonder how she would get to school on time. There were still so many things she had to do. She had to make Hiashi more tea, bandage her newest wounds, get dressed, not to mention she had to walk the entire three and a half miles to school.

"I guess I'll have to run,"she sighed before dumping the last of the glass into Hiashi's trash bin and starting to soak up the tea with some paper towels Hiashi kept on his desk. After cleaning the last of the mess she made her way to her "bedroom". It was actually just the basement of the huge house. Hiashi said she was unworthy to have an actual room like her sister and cousin. Unlike her, they didn't disgrace the Hyuuga name.

Locating the bandages she hid in a hole in the wall behind a painting of a winter landscape, she began to bandage her stomach and side. She had a bit of trouble reaching around to her back, but overcame the obsticle quickly and finished bandaging herself. Glancing, at the clock Hiashi had given her so she would always be on time for her chores, she noticed she only had twenty minutes to get to school.

_'Crap!' _she thought. Hurriedly, she threw on her usual baggy hoodie and jeans. Bounding up the stairs two at a time, she didn't notice her father standing at the top until it was too late. Hinata stared in horror as she and her father collided and landed in a heap on the floor.

"What's the meaning of this?"

Hinata got off her father and bowed. "I-I'm sorry. I was in a hurry and I d-didn't see you until it was t-too late to st-stop," Hinata tried to explain herself but to no avail. Hiashi had already curled his hand into a fist and launched it at her. It connected with Hinata's cheek and sent her stumbling backwards. Before she could do more than grab her cheek, her father had already grab her short hair and slammed her head into the wall.

Tilting her head to the side, she saw Neji coming into the living room and could hear Hanabi coming up behind him. Hinata made a strangled cry to get his attention. When he turned to face the two in the hall his eyes widened with pity before seeing the look in the younger one's eyes. He knew what it meant. _Get Hanabi out of here._ Nodding his head slightly to show he understood, he turned and ran out of the room. Hinata could faintly hear him telling Hanabi he forgot something upstairs and to come with him to get it.

A sharp pain at the back of her head alerted Hinata that her father had yanked on her hair yet again.

"You should learn to watch where you're going. You never know you might just _slip_." Venom was dripping off his every word as he yanked Hinata's hair and threw her head first down the stairs. As she tumbled downward, Hinata was sure there would be more bruises than she could cover this time. She only hoped she didn't break another bone.

After what seemed like hours, she finally hit the bottom of the staircase. Her fathers laughter rung in her ears and she thought she would rather die right there, than hear his taunting voice again. Sadly, fate had a way a kicking you when you were down. She was alive and she had to get up if she wanted to get to school even close to on time today.

Cautiously, she made her way to her feet, trying not to strain her already hurt body. Inspecting herself, she noticed she wasn't bleeding and sighed, taking a quick glance at the clock. If she went to school without taking the time to bandage herself, There was a chance she could get there on time.

Reaching her decision, she put on a determined face and began the painful journey up the stairs. Halfway to her destination she heard her father's car pull out of the driveway. Hiashi always took Hanabi and Neji to school. When Hanabi questioned why Hinata never got a ride to school, Neji told her Hinata liked to walk.

Neji knew what Hiashi did to his daughter and did everything he could to help her. Hanabi on the other hand had no idea what happened to her sister when she wasn't around. Neji and Hinata had come to the desicion long ago to keep Hiashi's 'bad side' away from Hanabi's knowledge. When everything had first started Hanabi was only about a year old and little six-year-old Hinata and seven-year-old Neji had known right away they didn't want Hanabi to have anything to do with it.

In order to keep everything a secret they came up with signals, so they could talk to each other without using words. To this day, Hanabi doesn't know that her sister is abused, her father is the abuser, and her cousin knows all about it. Of course, she does notice her sister seems sore a lot, but Neji and Hinata play it off as Hinata being clumsy.

Sighing to herself, Hinata wondered how they were able to keep everything a secret for seven years. It almost seemed impossible that no one noticed anything. Maybe they were just lucky. . . or not so lucky depending on how you look at it.

Snapping out of her reverie, Hinata noticed she had made it to her front door. Picking up her backpack, she made her way out of the Hyuuga household and down the street towards Konoha's middle school.

* * *

><p>"This is not my fault!"<p>

"Oh, so you're blaming me now?"

"You're the man of the house! You should know the signs!"

"You're home all day. Shouldn't you know what your son is reading?"

Sasuke sighed. His mother had found an Esquire Magazine(1) hidden in his brother's room and their parents were fighting over who's fault it was that he had it. He was eighteen for pete's sake! Eighteen and trying to buy his own house! He's bound to start getting into that crap sooner or later. Why can't they just confront Itachi about it and go on with their lives?

Stifling another sigh, Sasuke finished cooking his bacon and sat it with his eggs and tomatos- his favorite breakfast. Right when he sat down at the table, Itachi came down the stairs with his backpack slung over his shoulder.

"What is it this time?" he asked before sitting in the chair across from Sasuke. Sasuke didn't have to ask what he was talking about. Their discussion started the same way virtually every morning.

"They found your Esquire Magazine and mom says dad should've seen the signs, but dad says mom should know what goes on here 'cause she's home all day."

"They found my magazine? Crap!"

"Che. Calm down. It's not like you're gonna get in trouble. They just want something to fight over."

"Yeah, I guess," Itachi sighed, "So how's school?"

"School," Sasuke answered bluntly. Itachi nodded.

"Sakura and Naruto coming over today?" Sasuke thought about it before answering.

"Maybe. If there's nothing else to do."

"Fangirls sti-"

"Don't even go there," Sasuke interupted

Itachi chuckled. "I guess that means they're still as annoying as ever?"

"You have no idea."

"Hm, well I gotta go. See ya, Otouto."

"Bye, Aniki." Sasuke spared a glance at the clock. He still had a while before he had to leave for school. It was only a ten minute walk from his house. Tiredly, he sat down on the couch. He really hated Mondays. Why couldn't the week just skip to Tuesday? It made more sense in his opinion.

At least his parents had went into their bedroom to continue thier fight instead of yelling in the same room as him. Thier voices were now muffled by the thick walls of the spacious living room. Before he knew it he was drifting off to sleep with the lullaby of his parents' yells in the background.

Twenty minutes later he was awoken by a loud knocking on the door.

"Come on, Sasuke-teme, we're gonna be late! Dattebayo!"

"Yeah, Sasuke-kun, hurry up!" Groggily, Sasuke sat up and glared at the door in hopes the two on the other side would feel it and leave him alone. No such luck- the knocking continued. Finally, he stood with a scowl on his face and made his way to the door.

"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" he yelled while grabbing his backpack and casually opening the door. With his backpack slung haphazardly over his shoulder, Sasuke greated the teens standing on his porch.

"Hn."

"Good morning to you too, grumpy-britches."

"Naruto! Don't be mean to Sasuke-kun!"

"But, Sakura-chan, he started it! The least he could do was say good morning!"

"Sasuke-kun is too cool for things like good morning!"

Sighing, Sasuke thought, _'This is what I have to put up with everyday.' _Sadly, while he was busy trying to block out his annoying 'friends', he didn't notice the small form of a girl trying to pick herself up off the ground right in front of him. Sasuke gasped as he hit the ground face first.

"What was that?" he asked out loud before he heard a quiet whimpering noise.

Looking behind him, Sasuke saw a small girl with dark indigo colored hair lying on the ground in the fetal position. The whimpering sound was coming from her. Sasuke leaned forward, trying to hear what she was saying.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She was repeating the same thing over and over like a mantra. He wasn't sure what, but something about this girl worried him. She looked about thirteen and was extremely small- much too small for a girl her age. Her face looked very pretty, but it was contorted into a mixture of pain and fear. Sasuke was about to speak when Sakura beat him to it.

"Look what you did, Freak! You tripped Sasuke-kun! You better apoligize before you get hurt!" she threatened while cracking her knuckles.

"You okay, Sasuke-teme?" What was wrong with them? Couldn't they see the girl was already hurt? Why were they asking if he was alright?

"Hn. I'm fine. What about you?" he asked in a bored tone, looking at the girl still cowering on the ground beneath the three teens.

"Oh please, she's fine, Sasuke-kun, but she won't be if she doesn't apoligize real soon," Sakura said with malice in her voice. The frightened girl slowly took her arms away from her face and opened her eyes. She had stopped her mantra and was now staring up at the people in front of her with a terrified gaze. "Didn't you get the hint? Tell Sasuke-kun you're sorry, Weirdo."

The indigo haired girl gasped and quickly tried to pick herself up. She struggled, wincing many times, before finally standing, though she was still hunched over slightly as if her stomach hurt. Taking in a deep breath, she bowed deeply.

"I'm v-very sorry, Uchiha-san." Sasuke could tell by the sound of her voice that bowing increased the pain in her stomach.

"Hn. Whatever." Naruto stepped forward and looked at the fragile girl with a look of pity. Sasuke knew he wouldn't do anything, though. He had a huge crush on Sakura and if she didn't like somebody, Naruto wouldn't help them if she was anywhere within a twenty mile radius.

"Come on, Teme, we're gonna be late for school."

"Yeah, Sasuke-kun, if we hurry we can beat Ino-pig!" Sasuke sighed. It was always a competition with those two!

"Whatever." The three teens turned and walked off down the street, leaving the dark haired girl behind. A couple minutes later Sasuke broke the silence.

"Who was that girl?"

"The one who tripped you?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah."

"That's the geek who always sits in the back of the room and almost never speaks. She's always hanging around that freaky bug-loving kid and the one with the dog. Rumor has it she lives on the streets. I wouldn't doubt it, I mean she wears the same jacket everyday." Sasuke felt disgusted. If this girl was living in the streets and people knew about it, then why weren't they helping her?

"Hn. I forgot something at my house. I'll see ya at school."

"And you call me the dobe!" Naruto laughed.

"Bye Sasuke-kun!"

* * *

><p><em>'What's wrong with you? Are you insane? Those kids were popular! Don't you know what they could have done to you?' <em>Hinata lectured herself. How could she have been so careless? She should really watch where she's falling from now on. If it gets around to the fangirls that the Freak tripped their precious Sasuke-kun, she'll be as good as dead.

Walking, slower this time, in the direction of her destination, Hinata worried about the different things Sasuke's fangirls were capable of. When it came to the cold heart throb of the school, there were endless possibilities of punishments for anyone who messed with him. The thought made Hinata shudder involuntarily.

That slight movement alone sent a wave of pain through her stomach and ribs. Maybe she should have taken the time to bandage herself up after all- it seemed like today was going to be a very long day. A sudden voice broke her train of thought.

"Hey," Snapping her head up, Hinata saw Sasuke Uchiha standing ten feet in front of her. "Are you okay?" Hinata blinked, then pointed to herself with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Me?"

Sasuke smirked, "Yeah, you."

"I'm f-fine. . . Thank you." Sasuke quirked a brow.

"You don't look fine. Why are you holding your side?" Looking down, Hinata saw that she was, in fact, still holding her side.

_'Stupid,'_ she thought.

"Oh, um, it's nothing, r-really." Sasuke took a step towards her and she flinched.

"Do I scare you?"

Hinata gasped, "N-No! It's just, um, it's just that, well, I-"

"Whatever," Sasuke cut her off, "What's that on your face?" Hinata reached her hand up to touch her face and didn't feel anything but a slight pain from falling down the stairs.

"What do y-you mean?" Sasuke walked towards her again and didn't stop until he was standing directly infront of her. It took all of Hinata's willpower not to step back or flinch away from him.

"Right there," he said, pointing to a spot on her cheek, "it looks like a bruise."

"Oh, that, I, um sort of f-fell down the st-stairs this morning, that's all."

"Is that why you're holding your ribs?" Hinata nodded her head. "You're lying. I can see it in your eyes. Who did that to you?"

"What do you m-mean by that?"

"You're avoiding my eyes and you look worried, like you think I might learn a secret or something. What is it you're hiding? I know you didn't just fall down the stairs."

"You're d-different than you are at sch-school, why?" Sasuke was getting irritated.

"Don't change the subject," he began, grabbing hold of her shoulders, making her cry out in pain, "who did that to you."

Hinata was fighting tears again. Sasuke's grip on her shoulders hurt and she wished she had never ran into him.

"If. . . if I tell you, will y-you let me go?" Sasuke looked at her shoulders and saw how hard he was gripping them and, instead of being the gentleman he was brought up to be, he decided to use it to his advantage.

Tightening his grip he said, "Yeah, but you have to tell the truth." Hinata nodded.

"O-okay," She took a deep breath, "I did fall down the st-stairs," Sasuke's grip tightened even more, "but I d-didn't slip."

"Then how'd you fall?"

"I. . . c-can't tell you." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Why is that?"

"Because I'll get in tr-trouble."

"With who?"

"I can't t-tell you that either." Sasuke sighed in exasperation.

"What can you tell me then."

"Not much. I'm sorry. Um, c-can you let me g-go now?"

"No, you didn't tell me what I wanted to know."

"But I can't!"

"Why not?"

"My f-father would kill me!" Hinata gasped and quickly avoided his eyes, "I-I mean he, um, d-doesn't like me talking to st-strangers." Sasuke let go of her shoulders.

"Your father did this to you?"

"I, erm, uh, never s-said that."

"Yes you did. Why don't you get help? He should be put in jail."

"No, I couldn't d-do that, he's my father. What would happen to my l-little sister, my cousin, and m-me? What if Social S-services seperates us?"

"Okay, so you admit your father did this to you?"

"What? No! He would never."

"Then why would Social Services seperate you?"

"I-I, well, um, I-"

"I rest my case, so why do you let him do that to you?"

_'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! All these years and I get outsmarted by one boy! You're losing your touch, Hinata, now get it together,' _Hinata scolded herself for letting herself get cornered into this situation. Where had all her practice gone? Neji and herself had practiced many situations and had gotten out of everyone of them, so why couldn't she do it now? Her train of thought was suddenly broken when Sasuke snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"I'm waiting."

"Um, well, I gotta go, so, um, bye," she said before running as fast as her battered body would allow. To her suprise, Sasuke didn't chase after her.

She sighed in relief when she made it to school without anymore interuptions. After walking up the stairs to the main entrance, she saw Neji standing in the doorway holding her 'doctor's note'. The two of them had come up with a lot of different ones for when she couldn't make it to school on time.

Looking at the note, she saw that she was late because of a simple check up. At least she wouldn't have to act sick today. Glancing at Neji, she saw him beginning to walk away.

"Wait, Neji!" Neji turned to look at his cousin.

"What is it?"

"Avoid Sasuke Uchiha. He's suspicious."

Neji nodded, "Alright," and with that he walked off toward his class.

Hinata made her way carefully towards the office, making sure not to show any sign of being wounded. Finally making it, she looked at the clock and saw she was twenty minutes late. She sighed and pushed open the door.

"Good morning, Ms. Shizune," she greeted happily.

"Good morning, Hinata, why are you late?" asked the receptionist in her happy voice.

"I had a d-doctor's appointment, I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's fine. Just let me see your excuse and you can go on to class."

"Thank you, Ma'am," she answered while bowing. Standing up straight, she quickly left the room. Reaching her first period math class, she opened the door as quietly as she could. Unluckily for her, the teacher, Genma sensei, noticed her entrance.

"Ms. Hyuuga, how nice of you to join us today." Everyone else in the class laughed as Hinata hung her head and walked to the front of the room, handing her admission slip to the teacher.

"I'm sorry."

Genma sighed, "It's fine, Hinata, don't take things so personally," he said. Placing his hand on her head and ruffling the small girl's hair before sending her off to her seat in the back of the room.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was now even more curious to what Hinata goes through at home. Obviously her cousin knows something about it and he knows already it has something to do with her father. Now all he had to do was make the peices fit together. Sasuke isn't naíve, he knows child abuse exists, but could it exist in the small town of Konoha?<p>

Konoha was one of those towns that people thought of when they thought of the perfect neighborhood. No, they didnt have the long streets lined with houses that looked exactly the same, but it was one of those towns where everybody knew almost everybody, but you still had that privacy you didn't get in other small towns. When he had went on vacation to Suna with his family, everyone who found out they were from Konaha wouldn't stop talking about how they would love to live somewhere as peaceful as the 'Village Hidden in the Leaves' as it was nicknamed.

So, back to the original question, could something as horrible as child abuse happen in the peaceful, quiet town of Konoha? Sasuke didn't know, but he was determined to find out.

Standing up straight and out of his crouch he had been in while watching the two Hyuuga cousins from behind a bush, he made his way to his first period History class. He didn't have an excuse so there was no point in going to the office, just to be chewed out for being late.

Nonchalantly, Sasuke opened the door and walked into class, bracing himself for Anko sensei's lecture.

"Mr. Uchiha, would you be so kind as to tell the class why you felt the need to interupt their learning experience?"

"Hn." Anko's eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance.

"Just go to your seat, Sasuke," he sighed then mumbled something about needing a cigarette. Smirking, Sasuke went to his seat and sat down.

Class was boring as always. Sasuke already knew most of it. Sometimes whenever his parents were fighting and he didn't have anything else to do, Sasuke would take out one of his school books and read ahead to the next chapter just so he would have something to block out his parent's yells.

"Homework tonight. Read chapters seven and eight," Anko said just as the bell rang.

As students filed out of classrooms, looking for friends and hurrying to their next class, Sasuke kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the two Hyuugas. Finally, he spotted Hinata talking to a kid with red triangular markings on his face, who he knew as Kiba and another one with sunglasses hiding his eyes named Shino. Sasuke started to make his way toward the three friends, but before he could reach his destination he was ambushed by Naruto and Sakura.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed in her overly cheery voice, she only uses when talking to Sasuke.

"Yo, Teme, did ya get what you went back to your house for?"

"What?" Sasuke asked slightly confused, "Oh, that. Yeah, I got it," he quickly recovered.

"That's good, Sasuke-kun! I would hate it if you got in trouble because Naruto woke you up this morning."

"Sakura-chan! You were yelling too!" Naruto whined.

"What did you say?" Sakura asked as she cracked her knuckles and her eyes took on an evil glint.

"Um, nothing, Sakura-chan."

"That's what I thought." Sasuke just shook his head at his friends antics. Suddenly remembering what he was doing before he was interupted, Sasuke glanced over toward Hinata and her friends. He looked over just in time to see Kiba put his arm around Hinata's shoulders and point in the direction of his little group. Hinata's face went slightly red, but as soon as her eyes met Sasuke's she turned and hid her face in Kiba's side. Kiba looked slightly dissappointed at her reaction and Shino seemed confused. As Sasuke watched, he saw Kiba bend down and whisper something in Hinata's ear and Shino seemed to be listening intently.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you staring at?" Quickly Sasuke turned his head back in the direction of his friends. He hadn't realized he'd been staring.

"Hn. Just thinking."

"Oh, ok."

"Come on, guys, we're gonna be late!"

"Whatever, Dobe, we're coming."

"Hey, what'd you call me?" shouted Naruto as the group started walking.

"You heard me, Dobe."

"Teme!"

"Che." That was the end of the conversation because they had reached the Science classroom.

* * *

><p>Finally, the bell signaling the end of first period rang. Hinata hastily jumped up and walked out of the classroom, careful not to strain herself too much. She only stopped outside the door to wait for Kiba and Shino. When they caught up with her moments later, all three of them started walking towards the bathrooms. They always met up there after classes to talk about how class went and random things.<p>

"So, how was your weekend?" Kiba asked, breaking the silence.

"Mine was fine." Shino said simply.

"Aw, come on, Shino, that's what you always say. What'd you do?"

"Nothing extrodinary."

"Wow, your a real life of the party, aren't ya?" Kiba said sarcastically.

"What exactly did _you _do over the weekend, Kiba." Shino asked, knowing it would get Kiba talking for a minute or two.

"Me? I had an awesome weekend! I took Akamaru fishing with me down by the lake and we caught a whole bunch of fish. We ate 'em for supper and then Sunday we went to the park with the pond and Hana and Mom came with there dogs and we stayed there all day having fun. That is 'til Mom's dog stole a man's hotdog and he chased us out of the park. . . ." Kiba chuckled then trailed off for a moment.

They walked in a comfortable silence again until they reached the bathrooms, when Kiba decided to break it once more.

"So, how was your weekend, Hinata." Hinata stiffened slightly. She hated it when they asked her that question. It wasn't so much the lying she hated, but the fact that she was lying to her friends. Thankfully, she was saved the trouble because Kiba spotted something across the hall that made a sly grin appear on his face and made him forget all about his previous question.

Suddenly, he put his arm around Hinata's shoulders and pointed in the direction he had been looking. Hinata winced slightly when Kiba absentmindedly squeezed her closer to him. Kiba was like a brother to her, but he sure was strong.

"Look who it is, Hinata. It's Naruto." Kiba always liked picking on Hinata about her crush on the hyperactive blond. Hinata's face went slightly red, but not as much as it usually did. She couldn't help but think of how he acted this morning.

_'Why was he so mean this morning? He completely ignored me and let Sakura torment me. The only one who offered any help was Sasuke. Of course he offered a bit _too _much help.'_

Just as she thought this her eyes drifted to the left just enough to meet with Sasuke's. Gasping slightly, she turned her head to hide her face in Kiba's side.

She could feel her friends' eyes on her, but she couldn't help but to turn away from Sasuke's scrutinizing gaze. If she let anymore information loose, he might figure out what she had been hiding, and then she'd be in more trouble than she cared to imagine. She felt Kiba's weight shift and knew he was bending down to whisper in her ear.

"What happened? Did he do something to you?" Without having to ask, she knew he was talking about Naruto. He didn't know about her encounter with them this morning, which means he doesn't know she's ever even spoke to Sasuke.

"N-no," she managed to stutter out. It technically wasn't a lie- he hadn't done anything, which was exactly the problem.

"Don't lie to me, Hinata, you've had a crush on him since elementry school. Why the sudden change now?"

"I-it's not really s-sudden. . . ."

"Hinata," Shino spoke up, "we only want to help you."

"I kn-know, but he didn't d-do anything." Kiba sighed.

"Fine," Kiba gave in reluctantly.

"We should get to class. It'll be starting soon," Shino said, being the responsible one like always.

"Yeah, let's go." Hinata agreed. With that they headed off to class, Kiba and Shino going one way and Hinata going the other.

"She's hiding something about that blond idiot and I want to know what." Kiba growled as they headed in the direction of their next class- math.

"Are you going to confront him?"

"Duh, I'm gonna confront him and if he don't give me answers I'm gonna beat 'em outta him!"

Shino sighed, "Just don't do anything to rash."

"Come on, you know me, I wouldn't do anything I thought was unneccasary"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Kiba laughed as they both reached their classroom

"Good morning, Class." Genma said when the bell rang and everyone took there seats. There was a muttering of greetings around the classroom before Genma started the lesson. Time seemed to crawl along to Kiba, but finally the bell rang, Genma hollered out 'No homework!', and students started rushing out of the classroom. Kiba grabbed his stuff and made a beeline to where he knew the 'popular' people hung out in between classes.

He would have made it there too, if it weren't for Shino's hand clasping down on the collar of his shirt and holding him still.

"Shino! Let go! What are you doing?"

"Hinata expects us at the bathroom. If we aren't there she'll either come looking for us and possibly get hurt physically while you're fighting Naruto, or think we turned our backs on her and be hurt emotionally- neither of which we want to happen. We'll have to meet her, then make an excuse to get away."

"Fine," Kiba grumbled. Both friends made it to the bathrooms and saw Hinata standing there with a worried expression.

"Told you," Shino said quietly.

"Shut up," Kiba hissed, "Hey, Hinata, sorry we're late, we had to stay back in class for a minute." Hinata's relief was evident on her face.

"Oh, it's alright!" She said happily. Kiba began to look around in fake panic, but Hinata couldn't tell he was acting.

"Aw man! I left my homework in Genma's classroom." Hinata looked confused.

"But, we d-didn't have homework in m-math, did we?"

Kiba laughed nervously, "You do if you didn't finish the classwork. I gotta go get it. You go on to class, so you aren't late, Hinata."

"Hm? Oh, ok. Bye, Kiba!"

"See ya!" Kiba waved.

"I'll go with him, I have to go that way anyway," Shino explained.

"Alright. Bye, Shino!"

Shino nodded, "Goodbye," he said and walked off to catch up with Kiba. Looking down, Hinata noticed Kiba dropped his pen on the ground. She knew if Kiba went to class unprepared again he would get detention, so she picked it up and took off in the direction Shino and him had went.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared at the inside of his locker and sighed, he hadn't seen Hinata or Neji again after seeing Hinata this morning. He wanted to help, but Hinata seemed afraid of any help he had to offer. Why would she be afraid of help? She can't like the life she's living, whatever it is. Or maybe Sasuke was blowing this all out of proportion and Hinata really is a freak like Sakura says.<p>

Sasuke shook his head. He can't think like that. He was the last person who should be judging someone's homelife by their school image. No one at school knew his parents fought except Naruto and Sakura and even they don't know how much they fight.

A sudden banging sound snapped Sasuke out of his reverie.

"What did you do?" a voice growled. Sasuke shut his locker and looked to his right. Kiba had Naruto by the collar of his shirt and was holding him up against the lockers. Shino was right behind him, shaking his head and Sakura stood off to the side, wearing a shocked expression.

"I thought you said you weren't going to do anything until you talked to him." Shino said in his monotone voice.

"I am talking," Kiba responded, "Now what did you do?" he half asked half yelled at Naruto.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Naruto shouted. Trying to avoid a fight, Shino interrupted before Kiba could speak.

"He means what did you do to Hinata. We have reason to believe you did something to harm her," he explained.

"I didn't do anything to her!" Naruto defended himself.

"You liar!" Kiba growled. He brought back his fist, ready to punch Naruto in the face.

"Kiba! Stop!" A quiet voice shouted. A small form planted itself inbetween the two thirteen year olds. Kiba tried bringing his fist back, but it was too late. All he could do was slow it. His fist made contact with Hinata's head, causing Hinata to fall to the ground holding her head.

Several shouts of "Hinata" could be heard from the surrounding group. Kiba and Shino had already bent down to check her head. It wasn't bleeding, but no one could tell if something was wrong on the inside of her head.

"We need to take her to the Nurse's Office," Shino, being the reasonable one, said.

"B-but, Shino, I'm f-fine," Hinata protested. She didn't want to go to the Nurse's Office. What if they saw all her bruises?

"Yeah, let's go," Kiba agreed, ignoring Hinata's pleas.

"I'll do it," Sasuke spoke up. All eyes turned to the youngest Uchiha. Kiba's eyes narrowed, Shino's glasses glinted dangerously, Naruto and Sakura stared at him with suprised looks in their eyes and Hinata looked at him nervously with wide eyes.

"Why would you want to take her, Uchiha?" Kiba growled. Sasuke glared.

"Don't get mad at me. You're the one who came over here and started picking fights. Beside, I'm not gonna do anything to her. I only suggested it because if you don't hurry you're all going to be late to class. I'm late all the time anyway, so it doesn't matter to me." Kiba was about to speak, but Shino cut him off.

"Very well."

"Shino, are you insane?"

"But, I'm f-fine, guys, honestly." Hinata and Kiba spoke at once.

"No, Kiba, I'm not crazy and Hinata you need to have your head checked out." Hinata pouted and looked away. She was so worried. What if the nurse wanted to check more than her head? Are there other bruises on her head? Would the nurse except that she fell down the stairs?

"Hinata? Hello?" Sasuke's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked around and noticed everyone else had gone back to class. Down the hallway she could hear Naruto telling Sakura how he could have taken Kiba if Hinata hadn't got in the way. She giggled slightly at his boistrous ways.

"Are you coming or not?" Sasuke questioned. Realizing he had already started moving, Hinata reluctantly followed. When they neared the Nurse's Office Hinata slowed her pace as she thought of all the scenerios that could land her, Neji, and Hanabi in Foster Care. Sasuke suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction.

"Where are we g-going?"

"Somewhere." Hinata was confused, but if she stopped Sasuke would probably have pulled her arm out of socket, so she did her best to keep up without letting out any cries of pain. They finally stopped outside the door that led to the roof after walking up some stairs. Sasuke let go of her arm and opened the door.

"Go on," he said. Hinata stared at him as if he were crazy. "It's either this or go to the Nurse's Office." Hinata reluctantly walked out the door and onto the school's roof. After walking through it as well, Sasuke shut the door. Hinata turned to him suspiciously.

"Why are we h-here?"

"Because you didn't want to go to the Nurse's Office."

"Oh, um, th-thank you, Uchiha-san."

"Sasuke."

"What?"

"Call me Sasuke. Uchiha-san sounds to formal."

"Oh, ok." Sasuke paused and glanced at Hinata.

"So, are you going to answer my questions?" Hinata's eyes shifted around nervously, looking anywhere but at Sasuke.

"Wh-what questions?" she asked, trying to play dumb.

"You know what questions. If you don't answer them, I'll follow you home and ask your father."

"NO! Y-you wouldn't d-dare!" Hinata stuttered out.

"Try me. Besides, you owe me anyway."

"F-for what?"

"Getting you out of going to the Nurse's Office." Hinata looked down and forced herself not to cry.

"Please, please, don't d-do this."

"I want to know what your father did to you."

"He d-didn't do anything!"

"You're lying!"

"No, I'm not. Stop it!" Hinata was desperate. She had to get away- away from the questions and the memories. School was supposed to be her escape. She didn't have to think about this here! Why was Sasuke doing this? Why wouldn't he leave her alone? Hinata covered her ears and fell to the ground.

"Leave m-me alone! Please!" With wide eyes Sasuke bent down next to the shaking girl and put his arm on her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Without thinking, Hinata threw her arms around Sasuke and buried her head in his neck before the stream of tears she had been holding back for years finally broke loose.

"I-It hurts, Sasuke. It hurts so much. Why d-doesn't he love me? I didn't mean for it t-to happen! I wish they were st-still here too, b-but there not. Why couldn't it have been m-me? Why can't he see I'm h-hurting too?" The front of Sasuke's shirt was wet with Hinata's tears, but he didn't care. He just wanted to comfort her somehow. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to think of what to say. How do you comfort a girl crying in your arms, without knowing what they're crying for?

"Shh. I don't know, Hinata, I don't know. I wish I could help you, but I'm not sure how." The two stayed there in the same position for ten minutes before Hinata's crying finally slowed a bit. The tears were still coming, but they weren't as bad as they had been.

While Hinata was crying, Sasuke had been trying to figure out what she may have meant. What happened? Who went where? Why are both Hinata and her father hurting? None of it made any sense to him. Hinata's voice caught his attention before he could ponder on it further.

"Sasuke, why does he still blame m-me? It's been so long and I've tried and tried to h-help him forget, but his punches just get harder. I've tried so hard to help him, but it's never e-enough. I don't want to t-try anymore, Sasuke!"

'_So he does hit her?'_

"Don't worry, I'll help you in anyway I can, I promise." Sasuke vowed. Sasuke glanced at his watch. "Come on, Hinata, we need to get back to class," he said helping her up. The two teens walked back the way they had come, but they made a quick stop at the restrooms, so that Hinata could wash her face and get rid of any evidence that she'd been crying. When they passed the Nurse's Office Sasuke pulled Hinata inside.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, we just need an excuse." Sasuke walked up to the Nurse's desk and asked for a cough drop for Hinata and an excuse for both of them for being late to class. With a smile, Ms. Shizune, who was also the school's nurse, gave Sasuke what he asked for. Sasuke thanked her and the two thirteen year olds headed off to there respected classes.

For Hinata, the rest of her day seemed to fly by. She felt lighter after letting everything out. After holding it all in for so long, she felt like the weight of the world had been taken off her shoulders. Opening her locker, Hinata noticed a note fall out of it. Bending down carefully to grab it, she looked around to see if anyone was watching. Kiba and Shino weren't anywhere around, so she opened the note and read what it said.

_Hinata,_

_Can you come to my house for the weekend? I told you I'd help you and one way I can think of to do that is to get you out of that house for a little while. Write back with your answer._

_Sasuke._

Hinata smiled. It felt good to have someone other than Neji know what was going on. Now all she had to do was convince her father to let her go to a friend's house for the weekend.

'_Oh boy.'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN- The first chapter is finally done! Yay! It took me so long to finish this it's not even funny! Between moving and having the internet shut off twice, I didn't think I'd ever get this finished! Anyway, please leave a review. I was planning on writing a couple chapters before posting this, but with everything that happened I decided to go ahead and publish it, so my next update might not be for a while.**

**(1)- I just looked up adult magazines for guys and this was one that came up. If it's actually not a 'bad magazine' (as in not for kids), I'm sorry. Please pretend it is. Thanks!**


	2. At Home

**A/N- Chapter two is finally here! I'm really sorry for the long wait, but I have some good reasons! First, I started writing this chapter and had gotten pretty far, but when I came back to finish it, I opened the file and there was nothing there! The blinking line thingy was there and I could move it over, but it was like the writing was invisible! I know this sounds like an excuse I threw together in two minutes, but I'm being serious. I kind of lost my inspiration for a while after that. Second, my internet got shut off, so it was impossible to do anything fanfiction related for awhile. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this long awaited chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or the song **_**Those Nights. **_**Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and **_**Those Nights **_**belong to the band Skillet.**

_****_

"Please, Neji-niisan!" Hinata begged her cousin, who was leaning on a brick wall behind Konoha Middle School.

"No."

"Why n-not? It's only one weekend a-and I know you can convince H-Hiashi to let me go."

"No, you don't even know him!"

"I kn-now, Niisan, but, please, I f-feel like we can t-trust him!"

"How do you know? Just because you spilled your guts to him doesn't mean he's trustworthy." Hinata hung her head in shame.

"I'm sorry, Neji-niisan. I d-didn't mean to. It. . . It just slipped out."

"Just slipped out? We've kept this secret for seven years, Hinata! _Seven years_! What made today any different?"

"I. . . I don't know. It just got so hard and he w-wouldn't leave me alone and, I-I guess, I just. . snapped," she explained in her quiet voice.

"So, what you're saying is, you'll tell anyone about our secret, as long as they ask a bunch of persistant questions?"

"No! I didn't e-even want to tell Uchiha-san! I honestly d-didn't, but, Neji, it feels kind of good having s-someone other than you know and actually c-care!"

"He doesn't care, Hinata! He just wants the publicity. He wants to be known for saving an abused child. He wants to break apart our family!"

"N-no! He promised he wouldn't t-tell anyone! Everything w-will be fine, Neji-Niisan."

"How can things be fine? Now that he knows, others are bound to find out. He's 'popular', Hinata, and he has tons of fangirls, sooner or later it's going to _slip_ out just like it did with you." Neji used air quotations around the word popular.

"I. . don't think it will. I m-mean, I think it might have been h-harder for me, you know, b-because I had been holding it in for so l-long. And besides, you're 'p-popular' and it hasn't slipped out yet." Hinata copied Neji and air quoted popular, but immediately regreted calling him it.

Like most people, Neji and Hinata hate how people are classified in school, but for different reasons than most others. For them it reminds them of how it is at home: Hiashi's at the top of the 'food chain,' like the 'populars,' Hanabi and Neji are in the middle, just like the people who aren't really popular, but still have a life, and Hinata is at the bottom, like the 'dorks' and 'nerds,' who nobody can see having a life outside of school.

In other words, in Neji's mind, Hinata called him someone who would kick you when you were down, or someone who would classify you based on how you look or how much money you have and, just as she'd expected, Neji's eyes narrowed and she could tell he was angry.

"Exactly!" he began in a tone that was half sarcastic and half filled with venom, "I've kept the secret as long as you have _and_ I have a lot of friends. This isn't just hard on you, you know, so why were you the one to slip up?" Hinata didn't know why, but his statement made her suddenly angry.

"You think it's h-hard on _you_? Try being b-beat and hit and slapped and k-kicked everyday and n-night for something you wish you could forget. Try b-being the one who lives in the b-basement or the one who has to hide all your b-bruises and sc-scars. Try being the h-h-hated child for once, Neji, then t-tell me how hard you think you have it." Hinata glared at Neji and if looks could kill Neji would have been dead on the spot. Neji's eyes widened slightly, then softened.

"I'm sorry," he said while avoiding eye contact, "I shouldn't have said that. I just can't believe you would tell some strangersomething we've kept secret for so long. I was angry. I know it's harder for you than anyone else," Neji coughed into his hand to mask his embarassement. He doesn't like apoligizing, especially when they're talking about what happens inside their house.

Hinata's anger left her as fast as it came and she was back to her small, quiet self.

"I-it's alright, but does this mean you'll t-talk to Hiashi?" Neji's lips quircked upwards so slightly it was almost unnoticable.

"Yeah, I guess I'll talk to him."

"Thank you, Niisan!" Hinata said as she threw her arms around him. Neji returned her hug quickly before they both pulled apart. They didn't want Hiashi to pull up and catch them. As far as he knew Neji hated Hinata as much as he did and they wanted to keep it that way.

The two cousins didn't have to wait long before Hiashi pulled up. He always liked to meet them behind the school. Hiashi said it was because he didn't like the crowd, but Neji and Hinata knew it was so the others wouldn't see him pick up one kid and leave the other.

"I see you decided to go to school instead of disgracing your family name further. At least you did something right today." Hinata was so happy she might actually get to go somewhere this weekend, her father's insult didn't even faze her. In fact it's more of a compliment, right? Hiashi probably doesn't see it that way, but that doesn't mean she can't.

Hinata bowed her head so that she looked ashamed. This seemed to satisfy Hiashi because he turned to Neji and ignored Hinata completely.

"Come on, Neji, I don't want to be late picking up Hanabi."

"Of course." Neji ducked inside the car and buckled his seatbelt. Hiashi sped down the road, leaving Hinata to walk home by herself.

Once Hiashi's car was out of sight Hinata began jumping up and down in excitement. To a passer by she probably looked completely insane, but she didn't care. Suddenly she became aware of a sharp pain in her side.

"Ow!" she yelled, doubling over and holding her ribs. She had forgot all about her injuries from this morning. She stopped jumping and began to, quickly, make her way back home.

The journey to her house wasn't as hard or as eventful as the one to school was. Aside from the giddy, happy feeling she hasn't felt since Neji, Hanabi, and herself went to a carnival while Hiashi was out of town, it was almost like nothing had happened that day.

After returning to the Hyuuga House, Hinata made her way down to her poor excuse of a bedroom. She would have to hurry and do her homework because she had promised to hang out with Hanabi tonight and she didn't want to disappoint her.

Unfortunately, school didn't come easy to Hinata. It wasn't that she didn't try, but when you're in pain half the time, it's kind of hard to concentrate on your studies. Before her life had turned upside down, Hinata had been one of the top students in her class, but keeping her grades up fell on her '_most important_'list after the accident. The secret, protecting her sister, not being noticed- all of those things flew to the top and her grades were all but forgotten for almost a year.

Neji would tutor her sometimes without Hiashi knowing, but she had already asked so much of him today that she didn't want to bother him with anything else. Besides, the homework isn't that hard tonight. She has to look at the genes of two different people (given on the paper) and figure out the possible genes of their kid.

_'Hmm, how do you do this again? Was it the recessive genes that showed up more or the dominant ones?'_

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door leading to the basement. Hinata stood and walked quickly, but cautiously, up the stairs. Slowly, she opened the door, ready to defend herself if it was an angry Hiashi. Luckily, it was only Neji, who stood looking at her with his arms crossed.

"Got any homework?" he asked with a smirk. Hinata smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry." Chuckling, Neji let himself in by squeazing passed Hinata and down the staircase.

"It's alright, but you're going to have to learn this sooner or later."

"I know, Neji-niisan. I'm t-trying, but it gets so c-confusing!" The two cousins spent the next half hour going over the difference between recessive and dominant genes and the fact that dominant genes show up more than recessive genes do. Finally, Hinata's homework was finished!

"Got it?"

"I th-think so. Thank you, Niisan."

"You're welcome, Hinata." Neji noticed how Hinata seemed to be distracted by something during their little tutoring session and he was begining to wonder what she was thinking about. "What is it?"

"What do you m-mean?" the pale girl asked.

"What's on your mind?" Hinata just shook her head.

"N-nothing."

"You know you're really easy to read, right? Now what is it?"

"Well, it's just, um, h-how did you- I mean before y-you, uh-"

"Take a deep breath first, Hinata. Think of what you want to say, then say it." She did as she was told.

"When the a-a-accident first happened, you h-hated me too and that's how we're able t-to convince H-Hiashi that you still hate me now."

"That's right, but I don't see why you're telling me something I already know."

"Well, I, um, wanted to a-ask you how you got o-over it? Why don't you st-still hate me for causing Hizashi-oji's d-death?" Neji looked taken aback by the sudden question.

"Well, I guess I just realized that it wasn't really your fault. All you did was ask for some ice-cream. That doesn't mean you caused the accident. A lot of kids want ice-cream on their birthday."

"B-but it was my fault. If I hadn't asked for i-ice-cream, then we wouldn't have b-been at the intersection at the same time the semi-truck w-was."

"You don't know that. What if they were planning on going to the store anyway? There's no telling what may have happened that day if you three hadn't went out for ice-cream." Hinata shook her head again with tears in her eyes.

"I w-wish I had d-d-died in that a-accident too."

"Don't say that, Hinata. Everything happens for a reason and I know that you survived that car wreck because you were meant to not because of coincidence."

"It's just not f-fair. Why did they have to d-d-die, while I lived! They didn't d-deserve it, Neji!" she said while swipping angrily at the tears in her eyes.

"I know, but we can't change the past, Hinata." A sudden thought popped into Hinata's head.

"Why do you call me that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before the a-accident, you called me Hinata-chan. After the a-accident, you didn't call me that anymore- you just c-called me Hinata. Why?"

"Hinata, just because I got used to not using an honorific with your name doesn't mean I'm still angry with you. I can call you Hinata-chan again if it means that much to you," Neji had to fight hard to keep the amusement out of his voice. He knows that Hinata is being completely serious, but he doesn't understand why a simple honorific could mean so much to her.

Hinata shook her head. "I only want you to call me H-Hinata-chan if you think I deserve it. I don't want you t-to call me it just to make me h-happy."

"Alright then, it's settled. Hinata-chan it is." Hinata smiled slightly.

"Are you s-sure?"

"Of course I am."

"Thank you, Neji-niisan,"

"You're welcome, Hinata-chan." he said, "Oh, I almost forgot. I came up with a plan to get you out of the house this weekend without you having to get beat for it."

"Really? Wh-what's the plan?"

"I'm going to invite a few friends over and I'll tell Hiashi I don't want you here while they're here. He'll believe I don't want you here because of all that disgrace nonsense he talks about and, in theory, he'll make you leave the house."

"Yes! I'm s-so excited! When are you g-going to tell Hiashi?"

"After dinner when he's in his study reflecting on his day." Hinata nodded as an indication that she had heard him. A few moments passed before a new voice filled the air.

"Neechan! Where are you?"

"I'm down here, Hanabi-chan." The door to the basement was pushed open for the second time in an hour.

"Guess what I did at school today, Hinata-neechan!"

"What'd you d-do?"

"You have to guess, silly." Hinata put her finger to her chin as if thinking really hard.

"Hm, did you find a unicorn?"

"No!" Hanabi laughed.

"Hmph! Well did you fly to Outer Space?" Hanabi laughed harder.

"No!" Hinata sighed dramaticly.

"I give up! What'd you do?"

"I drew a picture for you!" Hanabi pulled a picture from behind her back dramatically and held it up so both Hinata and Neji could see it.

In the picture there were six people. One had brunette colored hair and looked a lot like a child's drawing of Hanabi and one had the same colored hair and looked like an eight year old's attempt at drawing Neji. Two of them had the same color hair as Neji and Hanabi and looked like Hiashi and two of them had blue hair (Neji and Hinata assumed it was supposed to be Hinata's hair color) and looked like Hinata, only one was taller than the other and had longer hair.

"It's really nice Hanabi, b-but why did you draw D-Daddy and I two times?"

"What do you mean? I didn't," Hanabi replied in a confused voice.

"Yes you did. Right there and right there." Neji replied while pointing at Hanabi's picture. The young girl looked confused. She pointed to the Hinata-looking figure with long hair.

"That's not Hinata," she moved her finger to one of the Hiashi-looking figures, "and that's not Daddy." Hinata and Neji glanced at each other before turning their questioning gaze on Hanabi.

"Then who is it?" Neji questioned.

"It Mommy and Uncle Hizashi!" Hinata's eyes widened and one of her hands flew to her mouth and Neji eyes widened just enough to show that he was surprised.

"H-how do you know what th-they look like? You were to young to r-rememeber them."

"So, you told me that Uncle Hizashi looked just like Daddy and Neji-Niisan says you look just like Mommy, except she was taller and had really long hair and that's what I drew, see?"

"Yes, I see it," Hinata said while Neji nodded his head. Hanabi beamed and pushed the picture into Hinata's hands.

"Here it's for you. I remembered that you said you wanted a picture of the whole family together, but Daddy put them all away 'cause they make him hurt here," she pointed to her chest, where her heart is, "so I drew you one instead! You can hang it up in your room."

"I don't know. I'd rather take it to sch-school, so I can always have it with m-me." If possible, Hanabi's smile grew.

"Okay!" she then took Neji and Hinata's hands and drug them upstairs.

"Come on, let's play Go Fish. I know I'll win this time," she put her hand beside her mouth and whispered to Hinata, though Neji could still hear her, "Neji-Nii cheated last time anyway."

Hinata giggled, "I agree."

Neji's eyebrow twiched. "How do you cheat in Go Fish?"

"I don't know. You tell me, you're the one who did it!" Hanabi said playfully and dragged the two older Hyuugas into her room to play.

_****_

"How was school?" the head of the Hyuuga household asked. Dinner had been served and everyone was in their normal seating arrangments- Hiashi at the head of the table, Neji on his right, Hanabi on his left, and Hinata sitting beside Hanabi. Hanabi was the first to speak up.

"It was great! I drew a picture for Hinata-neechan and she says she really likes it! We got to go outside for reccess too! It was so much fun! Me, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon played hide and seek. Udon won 'cause we couldn't find him anywhere! And guess where he was. He was in the bushes!" At the end of Hanabi's retelling of her day Hinata had a small smile on her face, Neji's eyes held amusement, and Hiashi was chuckling.

"That's nice, Hanabi. I'm glad you had a nice day. What about you, Neji, how was your day?"

"Fine. Nothing special." Hinata noticed how he puropsely avoided mentioning Sasuke and she was extremely grateful.

"What did you do today, Neechan?" Hanabi questioned her sister. Hinata and Neji glanced at Hiashi, waiting for him to give Hinata permission to talk. Hiashi nodded his head slightly and Hinata had to hide her smile. Sometimes she felt there just might be a small chance to save Hiashi's big black hole of a heart.

"Not very much, Hanabi-Chan. Your day sounded much more eventful than mine."

"Oh," she paused for a moment, "Middle school sounds boring." Hinata giggled.

"It's not that bad, don't worry."

Hanabi shrugged. "Alright."

The rest of dinner went by without much conversation, aside from the occasional story from Hanabi and the others' comments on it.

_****_

Neji walked down the hallway that led to his uncle's study. He hated his uncle and could hardly stomach the thought of being in the same room as him, but he had made a promise and now he had to keep it.

Once Neji reached his destination, he knocked lightly on the door, silently hoping Hiashi will tell him to go away.

"Come in." The fates must hate him today.

Reluctantly, Neji slid open the door to Hiashi's study and stepped inside the room.

Bowing, he greeted the man in front of him, "Uncle."

"Neji," Hiashi greeted back. Neji rose from his bowing position.

"I have a request to make regarding your daughter."

"Hanabi? What is it?"

"No, not Hanabi."

"Hinata? What kind of a request could you make about her?" Neji had to grit his teeth at the tone of Hiashi's voice.

"I want her out of the house this weekend."

"Why? What has she done? Don't worry, Neji, I'll set her straight." Neji had to hide his disgust at the older man in the room.

"She hasn't done anything," Neji said and then, to cover up any signs that he may have been trying to protect her, he added, "and I want to keep it that way."

"Alright, why do you want her out of the house then?"

"I wish to invite a few friends over and do not want them to know that I live with her."

"Ah, I understand. Very well, I will inform Hinata of this weekend's arrangement."

"Thank you, Uncle." With that, Neji turned and left the room.

_****_

Hinata had to take deep breaths to calm her nerves. She had been called to her father's office. Usually, the only time her father calls her is if he wants her to do something or if she's done something wrong and has to be punished for it.

Along with her nervousness, Hinata was also excited, because once she reaches her father's office, she might find out if Neji's plan worked or not.

Sooner than she would have liked, Hinata was standing in front of Hiashi's office and her legs suddenly felt like jelly. Shakily, she raised her hand and knocked on the giant- it looked giant to her- door in front of her.

"You may enter."

_'Deep breaths. You can do this. . . I hope.'_

Slowly, she opened the door and slid inside. Instinctively, she knelt on the floor in a bowing position in front of Hiashi's desk. Hiashi looked up from his paper work at the cowering form on his floor and sneered.

"I don't want you here this weekend and if I see you within one hundred feet of this house during those three days, so help me, you will regret it." Hinata jumped slightly at the threat.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now go get me the picture Hanabi drew at school today." Hinata curled her hands into fist. She knew this was coming and she had worked out two choices- she could either give him the picture, watch him destroy it, then lie to Hanabi about what happened to it or she could not give it to him and take a beating, but at least Hanabi wouldn't get hurt that way and she would still have something from her sister.

"I-I lost it. I'm s-sorry." Hiashi glanced up.

"Well, then go find it."

"I can't." Hiashi glared.

"And why is that?"

"I, um, dropped it i-into the living room f-f-fire." Hiashi stood up slowly and Hinata braced herself for the pain she knew was coming.

"Why were you in the living room?"

"C-cleaning?" Hiashi grabbed Hinata's hair and yanked her into a standing position.

"Liar," he hissed as his fist connected with Hinata's side and she yelped in pain. Hiashi dropped his daughter, then brought up his knee so that when her chin landed, her head snapped backwards. Hinata fell onto her side and layed there wimpering.

Hiashi took one last look at his daughter, frowned in disgust, and kicked her side. Turning back towards his desk, he said, "Now leave."

Hurriedly, Hinata picked herself up and all but ran out of the room. At the door to her basement stood Neji, with that ever present smirk on his face. Hinata ran to him and threw her arms around him and squeezed harder than she ever thought possible from her small, injured arms.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're the best niisan ever!" Neji laughed and returned her hug.

"Your welcome, but if he tells anyone, I'll kill him." Hinata giggled.

"Deal. Is Hanabi asleep?"

"No, she's waiting on you."

"Ok. I'll be back."

"I'll be in my room."

"See you tomorrow."

"Good night." The two cousins went their seperate ways. Hinata walked up the stairs to her sister's room. The door was cracked, but Hinata knocked lightly anyway.

"Come in, Neechan." Hinata did as she was told and stepped into Hanabi's room. When she got to Hanabi's bed, she leaned down and kissed her head. Neji had already tucked her in, so she didn't have to do that tonight.

"Good night, Hanabi-chan."

"Good night, Hinata-neechan." Before Hinata could leave the room, Hanabi spoke up again. "Neechan?"

"What is it?"

"Why doesn't Daddy ever ask you about your day at supper?"

_'Because he doesn't care.'_ It would be so easy to tell Hanabi why Hiashi doesn't acknowledge Hinata and why she sleeps in the basement and why she limps half the time, but that would turn her little world upside down and eight-year-olds should be care free. Neji and Hinata had most of their childhood stolen from them, because they were to busy looking over their shoulder, watching out for Hiashi's wrath, and keeping it a secret from everyone around them. Hinata wasn't going to do that to Hanabi.

So instead she answered, "He just forgets." And that was enough for Hanabi because she was still just a kid and she trusted Hinata to tell her the truth about anything, no matter what it was. She was a kid and didn't realize that the very person who taught her it was wrong to lie would lie right to her face. She was still a kid and Hinata was thankful for that, because she wanted her sister to be a kid for as long as she possibly could.

Turning out the light, Hinata left her sister's room and went to her own. She didn't realize how tired she was until she layed down on her bed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

_****_

Sasuke walked inside his brother's room.

"Hey."

"Don't you know how to knock?"

"No."

"Haha," Itachi replied sarcasticly, "What'd ya want?"

"Can I use the garage this weekend?" Itachi quircked an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because I invited someone over and I don't want them to have to listen to Mom and Dad yelling at each other."

"And who might this person be?" Amusement was evident in Itachi's voice. He knew it was a girl because Sasuke didn't tell him her name right away.

"None of your business."

"Come on, Little Brother, what's her name?"

"Who said it was a girl?" Itachi smirked.

"I'm not going to let you use the garage, unless I know who you're going to be in there with."

"Fine," Sasuke answered, reluctantly. "her name's Hinata."

Itachi chuckled. "Alright, you can use the garage, but you better keep it rated PG."

Sasuke's eyes widened and a slight blush appeared on his face. "It's not like that! She's just a friend."

"Whatever you say, Sasuke." Sasuke stomped out of Itachi's room before he could make anymore jokes about him and Hinata.

"Mom!"

"I'm in the kitchen, Honey."

Entering the kitchen, Sasuke saw his mom bent over a parenting book entitled _'What to do when your teenager acts out.' _Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"He's eighteen, Mom, I don't think it's considered 'acting out' anymore."

"What do you mean? I'm just doing some light reading."

"Right, my bad," Sasuke said, while shaking his head and rolling his eyes again. His parents always tried to hide there problems from Itachi and him, even though they can hear them yelling at each other every hour of every day. "Anyway, can I invite a friend over this weekend?"

"Which one? Naruto?"

"No, you don't know her." Mikoto Uchiha glanced at her son from over the top of her book.

"Her? And it's not Sakura?"

"No, you know Sakura, remember?"

"Well then, who is she?"

"Her name's Hinata."

"That's a pretty name. What's she like?" Mikoto knew she was prying, but she couldn't help it. The only girl she knew of that Sasuke hung out with was Sakura and he's made it very clear that Sakura is a friend and nothing more.

"Um, she's quiet, I guess."

"Really?" The disbelief in his mom's voice was comical. Out of all Sasuke's friends, she's only met Naruto and Sakura, two of the loudest people in their grade. The fact that he may actually have a friend that knew what the words _moment of silence _meant came as a shock to her.

"Yeah, Mom, seventh graders can be quiet too."

"I know that. I just didn't know you knew any."

"Haha," Sasuke said sarcastically, "Naruto and Sakura can be quiet too. . . Well, Sakura can at least. Can Hinata come over?" Mikoto closed her book and stood up.

"I guess she can, but I'll have to talk it over with your father in case he has something planned. What do you want for supper?" Before Sasuke could answer, Itachi came into the kitchen and cut him off.

"No tomatos." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Who said I was gonna say anything about tomatos?" _'I was.'_

"I know you, Otouto."

"Well, I wasn't." _'I'm such a liar.'_

"Liar, what were you gonna say then?"

"Chili."

"Why?"

". . ."

"So you could drink the tomato juice mom uses in it?"

". . . No." Itachi smiled in triumph.

"You hesitated. I was right."

"Itachi, stop picking on Sasuke." Fugaku chose that moment to walk into the kitchen as well.

"Aw come on, Mikoto, they're boys. They're suppossed to fight."

"They weren't fighting. Itachi was picking on Sasuke."

"Sasuke's his little brother, what do you expect him to do?" Sasuke and Itachi exchanged a glance and both slipped out of the kitchen. Once they were out of earshot of their parents, they started laying down their bets.

"I bet ten dollars that Dad wins," Itachi said with confidence. Sasuke shook his head.

"You're on. Dad's gonna end up sleeping on the couch tonight," Sasuke replied with an evil grin.

Itachi smiled. "We'll see." The two brothers slipped back into the kitchen.

"Sasuke does like tomatos!" Their father yelled at their mother.

"So, he doesn't need to be picked on for it!" Mikoto replied, just as loud.

"He's not a baby, Mikoto, you can't protect him from every little thing!"

"He's my baby!" Sasuke's face went red and Itachi doubled over in silent laughter.

"Alright, he's your baby. Tomorrow why don't you go to school with him, so that the kids at school don't tease him?"

"He doesn't get picked on at school! Do you?" Sasuke's mom turned on him. Fugaku smacked his forehead from behind her, while Itachi had to leave the Kitchen because he couldn't contain his laughter anymore.

"No, Mom, I'm not picked on," Sasuke said in an exasperated tone.

"See there, he's fine."

"I know he's fine, Dear. I was trying to make a point."

"What kind of point makes me worried about my son?"

"I just meant that you can't expect to help him through everyone of life's roadbumps." Tears pooled in the corners of Mikoto's eyes.

_'Oh boy," _Sasuke thought.

"I can try." She took off toward the bathroom. The sound of a slamming door and the click of the lock rung throughout the house. Fugaku sighed and started walking in the same direction as his wife. Itachi walked back into the kitchen wiping tears from his eyes. He took one look at Sasuke and burst out laughing again.

"Where's Mom?" he asked through his laughter. Sasuke glared at Itachi.

"She's in the bathroom, crying." Itachi's laughter settled down once more.

"You would know, being Mommy's boy and all, wouldn't you." Sasuke's face turned to flames once more.

"Shut up!" Itachi put his hands up in the sign of surrender.

"Alright alright. Get the hamburger out of the fridge, would ya? It looks like were making supper again tonight." Sasuke did as he was asked, then got the tomato juice out of the cabinet. "Hold it! Set down the juice and nobody get's hurt."

"I wasn't going to drink it," Sasuke said after setting the cans of tomato juice on the counter.

"Sure you weren't, Otouto, sure you weren't."

_****_

"That was very nice of you boys. Thank you so much."

"No problem, Mom," Itachi replied.

"Your mother's right. Cooking supper because we were busy was a very responsible thing to do."

"We know, Dad," Sasuke said_ 'You told us that last time it happened too.'_

"Hey, Sasuke, why didn't Naruto and Sakura come over today?" Itachi questioned.

"Naruto's dad wanted him to help him do something after school and there was no way I was going to make myself be alone with Sakura for more than ten minutes so I told her I had something to do too." Itachi nodded to show he had heard.

"Sasuke, that was rude. Why didn't you want Sakura to come over?"

"Because she'd annoy me the whole time. She's only tolerable when Naruto's around too."

"Your mother's right. Instead of making up some excuse, explain that you don't want her over today. Don't lie to the poor girl." Sasuke had to fight hard not to let his amazement show on his face. That was the first thing his parents had agreed on in months. Maybe he should be rude to Sakura more often. Instead of pondering on the incredibly inviting idea, he simply sighed and told his parents what they wanted to hear.

"Alright, I'm sorry."

"Good. Now eat your supper." Sasuke glanced down at his bowl to find it empty.

"I'm finished."

"Me too."

"Alright, boys." When Sasuke was about to enter his room, Itachi grabbed his arm and drug him into his own room.

"What the heck?"

"Look at this. I found this really cool house." Itachi pulled a newspaper out from between his matress and boxspring. Walking over to his desk, he layed the paper down and beckoned Sasuke over. Sasuke did as he was told. "It has one bathroom, a good sized kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms, and the rent is $350 a month."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "Why do you need two bedrooms?"

Itachi smiled. "One for me and one for you when Mom and Dad's fighting gets out of control." Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Me?"

"Of course. If I get out of this prison, then it's only fair you get time out too."

"Thanks, Otouto."

"Your welcome, Little Brother." They stood in silence for a while before Itachi broke the silence. "I'm kind of glad finding my magazine sent them into a fight, ya know?"

Sasuke looked confused. "Why?"

"Because they'd probably kill me otherwise," Itahci said in a playful tone.

_'My f-father would kill me!' _Hinata's voice suddenly rang out in Sasuke's mind.

"Don't say that!" Sasuke said in anger. How could Itachi say something like that? Didn't he realize how good they have it? They've never even been spanked, let alone made to feel like they were in danger! Their parents wouldn't hurt them if the world depended on it. Itachi looked taken aback.

"Why? You know as well as I do they would have been spitting mad at me if they hadn't started fighting."

"Yeah, so? They would never hurt you over it! They love you. They would never lay a finger on you!"

"It's just an expression, Sasuke."

"Well, it's a stupid expression." Sasuke turned and stomped out of the room. He heard Itachi ask what had gotten into him, but he didn't answer him. All he could think about was Hinata.

What's happening to her right now? Is she okay? Is her father hurting her? Is she sleeping? Will she be at school tomorrow? So many questions swam through Sasuke's head and he couldn't answer any of them. Finally he decided to just go to sleep. Hopefully, he'd be able to see her soon.

_****_

**A/N- Sorry this chapter is pretty boring, but I wanted to show you more of how their home lives are, sinse I didn't really get to in the first chapter. I've already started working on the third chapter, so hopefully it will be out fairly soon (as long as the internet stays on this time, which it should).**

**Anyway, review please. Flames are excepted, as long as you have a good reason to flame me, constructive critism is brilliant, and praises make my day!**


	3. Weekend Plans

**A/N- Chapter 3 is here! YAY!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or the song **_**Those Nights.**_** Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and **_**Those Nights **_**belongs to the band Skillet.**

* * *

><p>Slowly, Sasuke opened his eyes and turned over. Glancing at his clock, he noticed it was seven in the morning. He groaned and put the pillow over his head; he didn't want to get up. Then the events of yesterday came rushing back to him and he shot out of his bed.<p>

After scrambling to get to his closet, Sasuke picked out what he wanted to wear that day and hopped in the shower. Once he was done making sure he was clean, he got dressed and ran down stairs.

His parents were in their bedroom. He heard voices, but he couldn't tell if they were fighting or just talking. Itachi was no where to be seen, so Sasuke assumed he was still asleep. Looking around the kitchen, he decided to just have some cereal for breakfast, that way he could get done quicker and head off to school.

Sasuke grabbed the box of Konoha Crumbles and poured himself a bowl. Just as he was sitting down at the table, his parents came out of their room.

"What do you mean you want to get another comforter?" his father asked his mother.

"What part of that didn't you understand? You take all the covers at night, so I want to get another blanket. That way I can be warm at night too," answered Mikoto.

"That's ridiculous! I do not use all the covers!"

"Yes, you do!"

_'Figures. I should have known they were fighting,' _Sasuke thought. Just then Itachi turned the corner into the kitchen.

"What happened now?"

"Apparently, Dad's a night time cover hog."

Itachi laughed, "They'll fight over anything won't they?"

"If you just figured that out, you're slower than I thought."

"Haha," Itachi answered sarcastically, "You're eating cereal? What happened to your eggs, bacon, and tomato breakfast diet?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Felt like trying something different."

"Uh-huh, sure." Sasuke stood up and took his bowl to the sink. After rinsing it out, he turned around to face Itachi.

"Whatever. I'm going to school." Itachi quircked his eyebrow.

"If you leave now you'll be twenty minutes early." Sasuke glanced at the clock and sighed. Walking to the couch, he plopped down and buried his head in one of the cushions. "That girl really that important to you?"

Sasuke turned his head to glance at Itachi. "What are you talking about?"

"The whole reason you want to get to school soon."

"I just want to make sure of something."

"What do you want to make sure of?"

"That I did the right homework assignment," Sasuke answered, then stuffed his face back into the cushion.

"Right and I'm the Prime Minister of England."

"What makes you so sure it's because of Hinata."

"You've heard of 'Motherly Instincts,' right? Well, I have 'Older Brotherly instincts,'" Itachi replied matter-of-factly. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I think you're off your rocker."

"Who said I was ever on it?"

"Good point."

"Exactly.(1)" With that, Itachi stood up and walked back to his room, knowing he wasn't going to get any more information out of his little brother. Sasuke, however, still didn't take his face out of the couch cushion because, truthfully, he didn't put it there to avoid Itachi, but to drown out his own thoughts, which refused to stray from Hinata.

_'Stop worrying, Sasuke, I'm sure she's fine.' _Sasuke tried to convince himself to think of something other than his new friend's well being, but he couldn't. How could he when there was a chance that she could be being hurt right now and nothing he could do about it?

What if she's being beat? What if she's so hurt she can't walk? What if she isn't at school today? What will that mean? Has she ever missed a school day because of her father? Why is her father so cruel? What if Sasuke isn't able to help her?

A sudden banging on the Uchiha's front door made Sasuke snap out of his thoughts (not that he was complaining, he was becoming more worried by the second because of them).

"Sasuke-kun, are you there?"

_'This is my house, where else would I be?"_ Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he answered Sakura, "Mom, Dad, I'm leaving! Bye!" he yelled over the sound of his parent's argument. He heard a faint 'Bye, Sweetie!' come from his mother as he exited his house.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!"

"What's up, Teme?" he was greeted at the same time by both Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke cringed at the loudness of their combined voices.

"Hn."

"Geez, again?" Naruto complained, "Don't you ever say anything other than 'Hn?'

Sasuke blinked. "Che."

Naruto smacked his forehead, "That's not what I meant, Sasuke-teme."

"Don't do that, you'll lose even more of your already scarce supply of brain cells, Dobe." Naruto stared at Sasuke for a moment in confusion.

"What?"

"Nevermind."

"Oh ok. . . Hey, wait a minute! Did you insult me?" Naruto glared at Sasuke. Sasuke rolled his eyes, while Sakura giggled. "Sakura-chan, it's not funny!"

"Yes it is, Naruto." Seeing that he lost this arguement, Naruto decided to simply cross his arms and pout. The three walked in silence for another few moments before Sakura spoke up. "Hey, look, there's no trash blocking up the road today."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. Sasuke stared at Sakura, not believing what he had just heard. Naruto may have been confused, but Sasuke knew exactly what she was talking about.

"That girl who tripped Sasuke-kun yesterday. Let's face it, this may be the amazing Konoha, but even we have our downfalls. One of them is that freak and other's like her."

"How is she a downfall, Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned, still not fully grasping what she meant.

"Well, when people come to visit here, do you want them to see a bunch of people walking around who can't even buy decent clothes to wear? I swear that girl from yesterday wears the same jacket everyday, like she's affraid to take it off or something."

"Why would she be afraid to take off her jacket?"

"Her figure probably. I bet she doesn't eve-"

"Will you shut up?" Sasuke half-yelled, half-asked.

"Why, it's true?"

"No, it's not. You sound like you're all high and mighty, but you're not. What makes that girl any different than you? Just because you have more money than her? Or because you have a nice, warm, loving place to go back to every night? Do you think she likes living the way she does?" Sasuke thought he may have said too much when he mentioned her living conditions, but then he remembered that Sakura thought she lived on the streets, so he could use that as a cover up if she questioned him about it.

"I-I, well, she, uh," Sakura struggled to find something to say, "W-why do you care so much anyway?" she finally asked, just to have something to counter with.

"Because, no one else does," Sasuke snapped. Sakura flinched at the tone in her crush's voice and bowed her head.

Sasuke shook his head and walked on, leaving his two friends behind.

* * *

><p><em>'Is he right? Do I act like I'm better than everybody else?' <em>Sakura thought. She had never really thought of about her actions towards others before. Why should she? She had everything- A nice house, loving parents, great friends, money. Her life was perfect, why should she have to be bothered with the people who didn't have it all? To her, it was there own fault they are where they are, so they shouldn't bother the ones who made it to the top.

But, maybe, that wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Maybe, since she had it all, she should have helped the ones who didn't get dealt the best hand in life, instead of making it even harder for them.

Maybe she has been going about things all wrong, but that doesn't mean it's too late to start doing things right.(2)

* * *

><p>Hinata couldn't have been happier! She has went the entire morning without slipping up once. Her father's tea was delivered on time and not on the floor, her shower was taken and she didn't take too long or use the hot water, making Hiashi as happy as he could be with her, her newest wounds were bandaged, and she even had time to wake Hanabi up and help her get ready for school, so Neji didn't have to do it this morning. Today was definately starting out to be a good day.<p>

"Bye, Hanabi-chan, I love you. Have a good day at school!" Hinata said before kissing the top of her head.

"I will, Neechan. I love you too," Hanabi replied and ran to Neji, who was waiting by the front door.

"Bye, Niisan," Hinata said. Neji nodded as a farewell gesture and then left, shutting the door behind him.

Hinata waited until she heard Hiashi's car turn the corner at the end of the street before grabbing her backpack and heading off for school as well.

Her walk to school was much easier than the day before and she made it to her destination much quicker, thanks to her having time to bandage herself this morning.

Grinning, she met up with Kiba at there normal spot by the bathrooms.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!"

"Hi, Kiba-kun. Wh-where's Shino-kun?"

"Doctor's appointment."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I guess I'm next, huh?

"Wh-what do you mean?" Hinata asked in a confused tone.

"You had a check-up yesterday and Shino has on today. I must be tomorrow, ne?"

"Oh, I g-guess you're right," she laughed.

"Of course I am, I'm the amazing Kiba, after all."

Giggling, Hinata replied, "Of course you a-are."

_Briiiing!_

"Aw, man, the warning bell? I haven't even been to my locker yet!" Hinata shook her head.

"You b-better hurry, Kiba-kun."

"Alright, I'll see ya later!"

"Bye, Kiba-kun!" she replied, while waving.

* * *

><p>"Ok, homework for tonight, find and graph the solution sets on page 139. You are dismissed," Kakashi-sensei said when the bell rang, signaling the end of class.<p>

Hinata was extremely relieved. She had been holding it for the past twenty minutes and if she didn't get to a bathroom soon, she was going to burst. Rushing to the bathrooms, she nearly forgot to stop and explain her situation to Kiba.

"Sorry, Kiba-kun, I c-can't talk right now. I've gotta g-go," and then she sped into the girls restroom. When she finally made it to the toilet, she did a little happy dance in her head for not peeing herself. Her good mood was squashed, however, when she heard a voice behind her."

"Hey, you." Hinata froze. It was Sakura. Was she still upset about yesterday? Only one way to find out. After finishing washing her hands, she slowly turned around to face the girl who had called her.

"Y-yes?"

Sakura hesitated, the girl looked so scared and fragile, like she thought Sakura would hurt her. Then, Sakura reminded herself that's exactly what she threatened to do yesterday. Guilt washed through Sakura's body and she wished she hadn't have said what she had.

"Um, I'm s-sorry for tripping Sasuke y-yesterday, if that's what you w-wanted to talk about." The small girl's voice brought Sakura back to reality.

"No, no, that's not it," Sakura began, her voice quiet, "I wanted to say that, that I'm sorry." Hinata's brow furrowed.

"Why are y-you sorry? I should have watched were I was g-going." Sakura felt even more guilt at the way Hinata seemed to truly believe she was to blame, as if there was no possible way anyone else could be at fault.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted yesterday when Sasuke tripped over you. I shouldn't have threatened you." Hinata smiled. She had rarely ever got an apology from anyone, other than Kiba, Shino, Neji, and Hanabi on the few and far between occasions they had done something to upset her and it felt kind of nice. Sakura's sincerity only added to the warm feeling Hinata felt in her stomach at her apology.

"I-it's alright, Haruno-san, I f-forgive you." Sakura smiled weakly.

"You're so forgiving, why?" Hinata thought about it and gave the as-close-to-the-truth answer as possible.

"Because if I wasn't, then instead of being happy, i'd be angry and upset most of the time." Which was partly true. She also leared to be forgiving after her father started to hurt her, because forgiving her father made it easier to make herself believe that it would all get better someday and that her troubles would one day disappear.

"Wow. I've never met someone like you before." Hinata wasn't sure what the bubble gum haired girl meant by that, but she guessed it must have been a bad thing because at home she was different and got beat for it.

Hanging her head in shame, Hinata replied, "I-I'm sorry."

Sakura's eyes widened and, hastily, she tried to reassure the shy girl. "No, that's a good thing. You're kind, sweet, and polite; Most of the people I know are loud and annoying."

"Oh, ok, well, I, um, need to g-get to class." Hinata said, while poking her fingers together nervously.

"Right, sorry, bye, um, what was your name again?" Sakura asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Hinata."

"Got it, bye, Hinata."

"Bye." Both girls then exited the restrooms and went their seperate ways.

* * *

><p>Sitting in class, Hinata anxiously watched the onyx eyed boy sitting across the room from her. How was she suppose to give him her note without anybody noticing? She had already gone through many different scenarios in her mind.<p>

She can't just get up and walk over to him. Why? Because that would get herself in trouble for disrupting class, as well as draw attention to herself, which was never a good thing.

If she walked up to him at the end of class, then she'd have to fight through the crowd of fangirls that always surrounded him. Absolutely not. There was no way on Earth, she was going to let the fangirls know she was associating with their 'precious Sasuke-kun.'

Maybe she could pretend to have to sharpen her pencil and then 'accidently' trip beside his desk and throw the not by his desk. Then, if he saw it, he could pick it up and read it. Then again, if he didn't see and someone else found it, that would be opening up a can of worms she'd rather leave unopened.

She could just put the note in his locker, like he did to her, but she had no idea where his locker was. Plus, if anyone saw her, they'd wonder why a dork was hanging around the most popular kid in school's locker, then they'd ask their friends, who would ask their friends and before you know it the whole school knows the quiet mouse was sneaking around Sasuke Uchiha's locker.

Frustration painted itself on Hinata's face as she tried to think of some way to get her note to Sasuke before she drove herself insane.

The sound of Iruka Sensei saying her name brought the shy girl back down to Earth. "Hinata you will be paired up with Sasuke."

"What? Oh, ok." Hinata had no idea what she was paired up with the Uchiha for, but for once she felt like she had caught a break. Being paired up with Sasuke would give her a chance to give him her note without making it obvious to the students surrounding them. Once Iruka Sensei gave everyone permission to switch to a seat closer to their partner, Hinata waisted no time in gathering her stuff and scurrying over to Sasuke.

"Um, H-hello," she said once she had taken a seat in the desk beside him.

"Hey," he replied simply. Hinata looked down at her desk in embarrassement. Just as she was about to admit to the stoic boy beside her that she didn't know what they were supposed to be doing, Iruka Sensei announced that he would now be passing out the packets they were to work on.

_'Oh, that's what it was.'_ Hinata thought to herself, relieved that Iruka saved her from a very embarrassing situation.

"So," Sasuke began, breaking the silence, "have you thought about my offer?"

"Oh, right!" Hinata gasped, "I have the n-note right here," she said, handing him her note. He looked at her and chuckled while taking the note.

"Why don't you just tell me your answer, since you're right here anyway?"

"Oh, um I-I guess I could d-do that," she stated, nervously poking her fingers together.

"Well," Sasuke urged after a moment.

"Uh, yes! I-I m-mean, um, I can come o-over. Neji-niisan helped me."

Sasuke nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Okay, then, let's get to work."

That was the last thing they said about their weekend plans. Both understood that, at school, they still had to play their parts. They could be friends outside of school, but, for now, in the social pyramid most people call school, she was still the dork and he was still the most popular kid in their generation.

* * *

><p>Neji walked down the hall to his locker, looking for the two friends he planned on inviting over for the weekend. Finally he gave up and decided to talk to them during class. While looking in his locker for the books he needed, however, he felt a pair of soft hands slide in front of his eyes and a voice whisper in his ear 'guess who.'<p>

Smirking, Neji repiled, "Hey, Tenten."

"Aw! You always know it's me," the bun-haired girl pouted.

"Who else would put their hands near my face?" Neji asked, shutting his locker.

"Oh, you're not that scary and unapproachable."

"Not to you, but you don't count."

"Oh? and why's that?"

"Because you're not afraid of anything." TenTen stuck out her tounge and Neji smirked. Before they could continue their conversation, a boy in a green jumpsuit came up beside them.

"Hello, my youthful friends!" TenTen laughed at Lee's antics and Neji just sighed.

"Hey, Lee," TenTen said, "How're you?"

"I am great, thank you for asking, TenTen. The power of youth burns hot within me!" Lee exclaimed, giving a thumbs up and smiling wide enough to show his teeth. TenTen laughed and shook her head.

"Well, good for you," she said, glancing at Neji and rolling her eyes. Neji smirked at his friends before cutting into their conversation.

"Either of you have any plans for the weekend?" The two eighth graders paused in their chatting and stared, wide-eyed, at their stoic friend. Irritaded, Neji snapped, "What? It's a simple question."

"Yes, but you have never asked us to take part in friendly interactions with you before. The power of youth has finally shown it's light through you!" Lee exclaimed. TenTen smacked her forehead and translated.

"What Lee means is that you don't usually suggest doing things together."

"Whatever, do you have plans or not?"

"I don't. What about you, Lee."

"I do not! What do you suggest we do, Neji?"

"I was going to invite you over to my house for the weekend."

"I will most likely be able to attened!" Lee said.

"Oh, I'll have to ask my mom if it's okay, but I'm sure I can make it!" TenTen said excitedly. "Why the sudden invitation?"

Neji thought hard before he answered. He couldn't tell them the truth, that he needed them to come over so that Hinata could go to a friends house, because that would lead to further questioning. Obviously, he was going to have to lie, but how? What could be a cause for him to suddenly invite his two friends to his house, after nearly a year of being friends?

Maybe he could use Hanabi? No, then he'd have to get her to play along, which would lead to questioning from her. Suddenly, the answer came to him- be typical Neji! With his new plan in mind, he answered.

"Hn." TenTen sighed in frustration.

"Is that the only answer you're going to give me?" Neji stared at her for a moment and then-

"Hn." Glaring slightly, TenTen gave up forcing a direct answer from the long-haired Hyuuga and turned to her other, more active, friend.

"His vocabulary teacher must be so proud," she stated sarcastically. Neji glared at her, but that only caused her and Lee to laugh at his expression.

* * *

><p>Inside his study, Hiashi sat, enjoying the silence of an empty house. He always loved these moments, when he could just sit back and revel in the calmness of a nice day.<p>

Feeling the need to stretch his legs, Hiashi stood and made his way around the house. First to the kitchen, then to the dining room, the living room, his study, finally coming to the foot of the stairs. Quietly, the Hyuuga made his way up the stairs to his youngest daughters room.

Opening the door, he smiled softly. The room was adorned in a soft pink color. According to Hanabi, it was 'the best color ever invented' and he supposed to a girl her age, it probably was. It was reasonably clean, considering an eight year old lived there. There were a few stuffed animals along the floor here and there, but nothing too bad.

Her bed was made, but Hiashi suspected one of the older ones did that for her. He chuckled, they were so close, it was as if they were all actually siblings.

As silently as he had entered, Hiashi left Hanabi's room and made his way to Neji's.

Neji's room was considerably plainer than Hanabi's. The walls were a plain white color and the only furniture was his bed, dresser, and desk. That being said, he did have a few pictures. There was one of Neji and his mother and father, one of the whole family, back before tradgedy struck, and one of Neji and two people Hiashi didn't recognize. If he remembered correctly, Neji said they were two of his friends from school, Lee and TenTen.

_'Perhaps, that's who he wishes to come over his weekend,' _Hiashi thought to himself. After finishing his look around his nephew's room, Hiashi made his way downstairs. On his way back to the living room, he glanced at the hall closet and had the sudden urge to look through it.

Hesitating, Hiashi wondered why he felt so compelled to look through the closet. Finally, he gave in and opened the closet door. While looking around, he found some things that had simply been put here until they would again be needed, like the decorations for different holidays, and some things that had been placed here for storage because they had no where else to put them, like the children's baby blankets and other sentimental things no one wanted to throw out.

Hiashi then came across a box with the words 'PHOTO ALBUM' written across it in his late wife's neat handwriting. Smiling slightly, the Hyuuga Head removed the box from it's place in the back of the closet and carried it into the living room. There, he removed the photo albums one by one and began looking through each of them.

There were all sorts of pictures, from when he, his brother, and their wives were kids to when Neji, Hanabi, and Hinata were born. There were pictures of the children ranging from infant to their present day age. He even found a picture of when he and Hizashi were being given a bath in the sink.

Chuckling at the happy memories, Hiashi turned the page and his breath caught in his throat. It was a picture of Hiashi and Makoto on their wedding day. Makoto was so beautiful in her white shiro-kakeshita. Her eyes shown with the same light she blessed the world with every day of her life and her smile was wider and more perfect than anything he had ever seen.

Ignoring the pressure that had built up behind his eyes, Hiashi continued to stare at the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Memories of their life together flooded his mind and he couldn't help but to smile and laugh at all their happy times.

When he had first asked her out, he remembered being so nervous that he almost chickened out. Hizashi had got a kick out of that.

_"The great Hiashi Hyuuga,"_ he had said, _"afraid of a girl!"_

There was the time he took her to an amusement park and she had gotten sick all over him. Makoto had apologized multiple times after that and wouldn't let it go until he allowed her to buy him a new outfit. That outfit is still hanging in his closet, even though it has long since grown to small.

When he finally plucked up the courage to propose, with a little help from Hizashi and his wife, Hitomi, Makoto had been so extatic, she had almost forgotten to say yes. She had simply jumped on him and had begun kissing wherever she could reach. Only when Hiashi had managed to ask her if that was a yes, did she begin shouting the word over and over again.

There was the time she had come to him with a smile on her face filled with so much joy that he knew that something life changing must have happened. His wife had confirmed his suspicions when she sat him down and told him that he was going to be a daddy. As a special treat, Hiashi had cooked dinner and, in order to get into the baby spirit, they had spent the whole night watching children's shows they had watched as kids. They were so happy then- both of them anticipating the joy and happiness that would come with having a child.

Then, when Hinata was born, Hiashi was sure that he would never be as proud as he was at that moment. Holding his new baby girl had been the best feeling he could ever imagine. The love he felt for the tiny creature in his arms was second to none. Hizashi had told him of the feeling when Neji was born, but hearing about it was nothing compared to feeling it himself.

The only time he felt like that again was when Hanabi was born. He didn't think the sight of a little child he had made would have the same affect on him the second time around, but he was wrong. Hinata had fallen in love with her sister the moment she laid eyes on her. She would always want to hold her and would unconsiously pout whenever she was told no.

They were all a happy family- Hiashi, Makoto, and their children, along with Hizashi, Hitomi, and their son. No one could ask for a better life.

Sadly, all things have to come to an end. Half a year after Hanabi was born, Hizashi's wife had lost her life to tuberculosis. Then a year later, Hizashi and Makoto were killed in a car accident on Hinata's birthday. Hinata had been in the car too and, though she wasn't killed, she did have to spend weeks in ICU. Hiashi could remember it like it was yesterday.

* * *

><p><em>Sitting in front of his daughter's highchair, Hiashi tried to get Hanabi to finish her lunch.<em>

_"Come on, Hanabi, you have to finish your food."_

_Hanabi giggled. "No!"_

_"You want cake and ice-cream later don't you?"_

_"Yes!"_

_"Then eat."_

_"No!" Sighing, Hiashi gave up trying to get his daughter to eat and took her out of her highchair and into her playpin. Hanabi laughed and exclaimed, "Pway!" while holding up one of her toys._

_"Fine then, but only for a little while." Just then Neji came down the steps_

_"Hiashi-oji, when's Dad gonna come back?"_

_"When they've gotten the ice-cream." The phone ringing made everyone look in the direction of the living room. "Neji, could you get that?"_

_"Sure," he replied. Picking up the phone, Neji did his best tosound professional. "Hyuuga residence, How can I help you?"_

_"Is this Mr. Hyuuga?" the voice on the other end of the phone asked._

_"Which one?" Neji asked in return._

_"Um, Hiashi?"_

_"No, he's my uncle, I'll get him. HIASHI-OJI!"_

_"What is it, Neji?"_

_"There's a lady on the phone for you," Neji replied innocently, as if he hadn't just yelled as loud as he could._

_"Alright then, give me the phone." Neji handed over the phone and then went to play with Hanabi. "Hello, this is Hyuuga Hiashi speaking, how may I help you?"_

_"I am sorry to inform you that your wife, daughter, and brother were involved in an accident at approximately 1:35 p.m. today. Makoto Hyuuga and Hizashi Hyuuga were pronounced dead at the scene and Hinata Hyuuga is in intensive care. We would like for you to arrive at the hospital as soon as possible."_

_The phone slid from Hiashi hands and made a crashing sound as it hit the floor. He could hear the woman on the phone ask if he was still there, but didn't understand what she meant. All he could think about was his family._

_His wife and brother were dead adn his daughter may be dieing. How could this have happened? How could this day go from being a happy day of celebrating Hinata's sixth birthday to the day he lost two of the most important people in his life? How could any of this be real?_

_The sound of Neji ask what was wrong broke him out of his trance. Hiashi stared at Neji for a moment and thenjumped into action._

_"Get your coat and shoes. I'm going to get Hanabi dressed. We have to go somewhere."_

_"Why? Daddy, Hinata, and Aunt Makoto aren't back yet."_

_Hiashi had to fight hard not to cry as he told Neji to just do what he said. Neji reluctantly agreed. Soon all three of them were dressed and out the door. Hiashi was in such a hurry, he was sure he was breaking the speed limit. Neji kept asking what was wrong, but he wasn't able to answer- he didn't know how._

_How do you tell a seven year old boy he's an orphan? How do you explain that he'll never see his father again? Hiashi knew he'd have to tell him sooner or later, but he planned to put it off until he knew the best possible way to let him down as gently as he could._

_Finally they arrived at the hospital. The personel directed him to a playroom where the kids could play while they informed him of everything he needed to know. Neji didn't want to stay at first, but seeing the look on his uncle's face made him keep his complaints to himself._

_That's how Hiashi ended up here, sitting in a cold hospital room listening to some doctor tell him whats wrong with his daughter. According to Doctor Takahashi, she has a broken arm, sprained ankle, and three broken ribs. Her head was also banged up, but as far as they can tell, no permanent damage was done. She's would have to stay in the hospital for at least a month, if not longer._

_After talking with Doctor Takahashi, Hiashi made his way to another room where the policemen were waiting to tell him the details of the accident._

_Hello, Mr. Hyuuga, my name is Officer Sato and this is my partner, Officer Sasaki. We are the ones working on your wife and brother's case," one of the policemen said, extending his hand. Hiashi shook it and then shook the second man's hand before speaking._

_"What. . .What happened?"_

_The officer that had not spoken yet, now spoke up. "We're not sure, but we're going to find out. None of the victims involved were drunk, so we've elliminated that option. When the truck driver is finished with his medical examination, we're going to interrogate him to see what all he knows. We also have some of our guys looking at the two vehicles to see if aything went wrong with something on the inside of them."_

_Hiashi nodded his head. "A-and you'll call me when something turns up, right?"_

_"Yes, of course," Officer Sato said, "If you need a moment, we'll step out and leave you alone." Nodding again, Hiashi agreed._

_Sittind alone in a quiet room, the full impact of what had happened today took it's toll on the Hyuuga and he broke down and wept. He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, but he knew it was at least an hour. Everytime he thought he had control over his emotions and could stop crying, another wave of sadness would hit him like a ton of bricks and he would collapes into a mess of a man once again._

_Finally, he told himself that he had two children waiting in a room for him and another one who needs him to be there for her, whether she's awake or not. With that, his resolve was strengthened and he made his way to the bathroom to clean himself up._

* * *

><p>That was the worst day of his life. The pain he felt had been worse than anything he thought he would ever feel. Telling Neji had been difficult, as well. The little boy had started bawling his eyes out right in the middle of the living room. He hadn't cared that he wasn't acting tough like he usually would when he got a scrap or a bruise, he just wanted his father back. Hiashi could still remember the way Neji had held onto him and cried for hours without stopping. All Hiashi could do was hold him tight and tell him it would be okay.<p>

In order to make it easier on the children, they had the funerals on the same day. That way, they wouldn't have to go through the pain two days in a row. The visitations were in the morning, while the burials were in the afternoon. Hinata was able to come, but she had to be pushed in a wheelchair, because she still couldn't walk.

Hiashi visited Hinata in the hospital everyday. Neji would come sometimes too, but he wouldn't talk to her or hold her hand like Hiashi did. There was always a look in his eye that Hiashi couldn't quite place at the time. One that he had never seen Neji use towards Hinata before, or anyone for that matter.

Hiashi closed his eyes as he remembered the first time Hiashi realized what that look was. It was also the first time he had hit his daughter.

* * *

><p><em>Hinata had only been home from the hospital four days, when she made the grave mistake of pushing her wheelchair to her father's study. Knocking, she waited for her father to give her permission to enter and when he did, she rolled herself into the room.<em>

_"Hi, Daddy," she said quietly. She hadn't been her usual happy self since the accident. Little did Hiashi know, she would never be his happy little girl again._

_"What is it, Hinata?" Hiashi asked, not looking up from his book and trying not to sound as depressed as he felt._

_"When is Neji-Niisan moving in?" Neji was supposed to move in with them, because they were the closest relatives he had. Right now he was staying with his Grandmother in another part of Konoha._

_"As soon as I figure out where he's going to sleep."_

_"He can sleep in m-my room. It'll be like th-the sleepovers we used to h-have." Hiashi smiled, but the expression didn't reach his eyes._

_"Neji is going to need a real room, Sweetie."_

_"Oh." Hiashi looked over and saw the picture of his wife that sat on his desk. Not wanting to cry, Hiashi turned away and looked right at his daughter- the spitting image of Makoto. A sudden anger that surprised Hiashi took over him._

_Why did she have to ask for that ice-cream? Why couldn't she just be happy with eating cake? Why was she still here when Hizashi and Makoto weren't? Why did all this have to happen?_

_Standing, Hiashi made his way over to stand infront of his daughter._

_"You know what, Hinata?" Hiashi said, barely containing his new found anger, "Neji will be sleeping in your room."_

_"Really?" Hinata asked, as excitedly as she could._

_"Yeah, and you're going to sleep downstairs. Do you want to know why?"_

_Hinata's bottom lip trembled. Why was her daddy acting like this? It scared her._

_"Wh-why?" She asked hesitatingly._

_"Because that's what you deserve," he said, lifting his hand and slapping Hinata's cheek hard enough to leave a red handprint. "It's your fault your mother and uncle aren't here. It's your fault everything happened. Now get out of my sight."_

_Hinata just sat there crying. Was it really her fault? Was she the reason Mommy and Hizashi-oji weren't coming back? Does her daddy really hate her? Will anything ever be the same again?_

_"I said leave!" Hiashi screamed. He then pushed her wheelchair out into the hall and slid the door shut again. Marching to the cabinet in the corner, Hiashi wrenched it open and pulled out the bottle of wine he saveed for special occations. Popping the top off, he took a big gulp of it and decided that he would have to get something stronger later._

* * *

><p>Fist clenched, Hiashi gritted his teeth at the memory. He had come very close to becoming an alcoholic, but his reputation, business, and Neji and Hanabi had given him the resolve to quit drinking and find other ways to grieve. Of course, moving on with his life would have been a lot easier if he didn't have to see his brother everytime he looked in the mirror or the spitting image of his wife when he looked at Hinata.<p>

Sighing, Hiashi closed the photo album and put it back in the box with the rest of them. He had had enough reminiscing for one day. Placing the box back inside the closet, Hiashi went back to his study and sat in his chair, ready to enjoy the rest of the time he had without any children in the house.

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Okay, this will be a fairly long author's note, so bare with me. First I'll explain the ()s I put in the story.**

**(1) Sorry if that didn't make any sense to you. That's the kind of conversations/arguments I have with my brothers. They almost always end with someone saying 'exactly.'**

**(2) That was way too cliche, but I couldn't figure out another way to do it, sorry.**

**Third, I'm trying to fit multiple aspects of real life into this story: Child abuse, bullying, the social aspects of school, fighting parents, family, etc. If it seems like I'm getting in way over my head, please tell me and I'll try to tone it down a notch or two. I just want this story to seem as real as possible, in order to bring awareness to some issues that people are dealing with everyday (my main purpose for writing).**

**Fourth, I'm thinking of adding some more couples. ShikaIno is a definate, but other than that, there are no garuntees, so send in some suggestions! I also need you to vote on who you think should be with TenTen- Neji or Lee. Please send me your feedback! Thanks!**

**Lastly, thank you **_**sumo is**_** for your absolutely amazing review! You had me on Cloud Nine! Thank you so much! XD**


	4. First Night at Sasuke

**A/N- Sorry for the long wait, but my internet was shut off again (it wasn't our fault this time, though! =]), our landlords sold our house, so we had to move, my computer deleted the first copy I wrote of this story, making me have to re-write it, then my laptop bit the dust, so I had to wait until I could get a new one to finish this and sometimes this story just hurts too much to write. I really hope you like this chapter, 'cause it was a pain in the butt to get done! :-/**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or **_**Those Nights**_**. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and **_**Those Nights**_** belongs to Skillet. I am not nor do I plan to make money off this story in any way, shape, or form. All rights go to their respected owners.**

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Friday had finally come and Hinata was starting to regret her decision to go to Sasuke's. What was she going to do? She had never been to a sleep over before. What should she bring? Does she even have a sleeping bag? What will Sasuke think of her after spending a weekend with her? Will he still want to be her friend?

The kids in her class make this seem so easy! Hinata is starting to think being socially adept is a super power granted only to those worthy enough to have it- not for someone who caused the deaths of their mother and uncle.

_'Maybe I shouldn't go to school today, make Sasuke think I'm sick and then hide out in the park all weekend. That way I don't have to confront Sasuke, my father will be happy, and I still get away from the house! If anything, it's easier than the alternative._

_'Of course, then the school would call and ask why I'm absent. Crap._

_'Maybe I could-'_

"Don't even think about it," Neji, who had been leaning on the door, watching Hinata pick out Hanabi's clothes for the day, said.

"What are you t-talking about?"

"You're trying to think of a way out of going to the Uchiha's. Don't."

"Wh-why not? You d-didn't want me to go in the f-first place."

"Yes, but I've seen the look on your face when you think of getting away from here, even if it is just for a little while. Don't throw that away just because you're afraid."

Hinata stayed silent for a moment and then replied in a quiet voice, "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what I sh-should bring or if I e-even have a sleeping b-bag. I don't know h-how to act a-and, and," The quiet girl paused, knowing her cousin didn't like it when she talked like this, even if it was true.

"And what?"

"And I, I don't, I mean," she took a deep breath and, in a voice barely above a whisper, "I sh-shouldn't be allowed to g-go."

Neji's brow furrowed in confusion, "Why shouldn't you be?"

"Because, I'm a h-h-horrible person! Only nice kids are s-supposed to get pr-privleges like this! Not someone r-responsible for her wh-whole f-family's s-s-suffering!"

Neji's face softened then and he grabbed his younger cousin's shoulders lightly, making her look at him. "Listen to me, I know you feel horrible about what happened, but it wasn't your fault and punishing yourself like this isn't going to bring them back. Don't listen to your father. He's an angry old man who can't find any better outlet than taking his anger out on you.

"But-"

Suddenly Neji stood up straight and said in a voice that left no room for discussion, "Hyuuga Hinata, you are to go to Sasuke's house and you are going to enjoy yourself, even if I have to drag you there myself, understood?"

Hinata giggled and put her hand to her head in a form of salute. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now here, eat it fast. Hiashi didn't go to work early, so I snuck you a pop-tart."

"Thank you, Neji-niisan," Hinata said, while grabbing the pop-tart, "for everything."

"No problem, Hinata-chan," he replied, ruffling her hair.

"I better go check on Hanabi. She's been in the bathroom a while." Grabbing her sister's clothes, Hinata walked out of the room. Hinata made her way toward the bathroom and knocked lightly on the door. "Hanabi, you need to hurry up or you'll be late."

Ten seconds later the bathroom door opened and Hanabi poked her head out. "Do you have my clothes, Neechan?"

"Of course I do," she replied, handing over the purple shirt and blue jeans, "Did you brush your teeth?"

Hanabi's eyes widened. "One sec!" she exclaimed and shut the door again. Hinata laughed and shook her head, beginning to eat her breakfast. Finally Hanabi opened the door and stepped outside.

"Yep, see? My teeth are all clean!" said the little girl excitedly, grinning and pointing to her mouth.

"Good job, Sweety," the older of the girls praised. When the two girls walked into Hanabi's pink themed room, they found Hiashi standing beside the young girls bed. Hanabi's face broke into a smile and she ran toward him. Hinata quickly throw the rest of her pop-tart to Neji before her father could see. Neji caught it with ease.

"Daddy!" Hanabi exclaimed, jumping into his opened arms.

"Hanabi!" Hiashi said, mimicking her voice.

"I thought you always went to work early on Fridays."

"Well, I woke up this morning and thought to myself, 'You know what, I think I want to drive my favorite little girl to school today'. What do you think about that? Do you want me to drive you to school?" Hanabi giggled.

"Yeah!"

"Let's go then, or we'll be late."

"But, Neechan hasn't brushed my hair yet! She brushes mine like Okaasan used to brush hers!" Hinata and Neji stiffened. What would Hiashi think of their little morning ritual? For what felt like eternity, Hiashi just stood there, staring at his youngest daughter, then, finally, he spoke.

"Is that so? Well, then, you'd better get a move on! We don't want you to be late, now do we?"

"Nope! Come on, Neechan!" The young Hyuuga grabbed her older sister's hand and drug her toward her bed. Hinata picked the brush up off the nightstand and sat Hanabi on her lap, brushing her hair as she does every morning, except today she felt as though she was doing something incredibly wrong and unforgivable.

How dare she do things to remind people of their mother? What right did she have to do something her mother use to do? After causing her to die, what right did she have to anything that use to be her mother's? Why couldn't she just be a good daughter for once?

"There you g-go Hanabi-chan, we're all d-done," Hinata spoke quietly, while continuing to silently berate herself on the inside.

"What's wrong?" Hanabi asked, just as quietly. Hearing the concern in her sister's voice, Hinata shook her head and smiled.

"Nothing, Hanabi-chan, I'm sorry, I was just thinking." Hanabi smiled.

"Ok! Come on! Maybe Daddy will drive you to school too!"

"Um, th-that's alright Hanabi-chan. I prefere w-walking."

"But, you'd like the car ride to school. It's always super fun!"

"I know, b-but walking is fun t-too, Hanabi-chan."

"But-"

"That's enough, Hanabi, she wants to walk, so let her walk." Neji was obviously just as on edge about Hanabi's comment to Hiashi as Hinata was.

Sticking out her lower lip, Hanabi replied, "Fine, but I won't like it!"

As she stomped out of the room, Neji turned to Hinata. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm alright, Neji-nii, don't worry. You b-better hurry, so Hiashi doesn't g-get angry w-with you." She wasn't about to add to Neji's stress with her own problems. Neji nodded his head.

"Alright, have a good day, Hinata-chan." Once he left the room, Hinata quickly ran to the basement and started packing what she thought she might need.

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Sitting at his dinning room table, Sasuke waited for the knock on his door that meant Sakura and Naruto were ready to walk to school. Itachi had some extra credit stuff he had to do before school, so he had already left. His parents were in their bedroom, so he wasn't sure what they were doing but he was pretty sure they were fighting.

A sudden thought came to Sasuke and he quietly made his way to his parent's bedroom. Knocking queitly, Sasuke waited for his father's voice telling him it was okay to enter. When he opened the door he cut right to the chase.

"Remember, I have a friend coming over today, so behave," he said seriously.

"Now, Sasuke, we're the parents, you don't have to tell us how to act," his mother replied. Sasuke didn't budge.

"I'm serious, no fighting, use your inside voices, whatever, but act like you like each other."

It was is father's turn to speak, "Now, wait just a minute, we didn't raise you to speak to your parents that way. How about we arrange it so this little friend of yours can't come over? Maybe next time you'll think twice about disrespecting your mother and father."

Sasuke was about to retort, but stopped himself. No matter what he had to make sure Hinata could come over this weekend. If his parents changed their minds, Hinata would be forced to go back to her own home and Sasuke shuttered to imagine what kind of Hell she would face there.

Apparently, his shudder did not go unnoticed.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Mikoto asked, concern filling her voice.

"Hm? Oh, nothing, sorry, I'll be more respectful."

A smirk came to Fugaku's face, "Good boy, now don't be late for school." Instead of pointing out the fact that if he left now, he'd be early, Sasuke thought it best to simply listen to what his father said.

"Alright, bye."

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"Tenten, Lee!" Neji called to his two friends as he walked to his locker.

"Yeah, what is it?" Tenten asked, leaning against a locker to the right of Neji's.

"You're still coming to my house tonight, right?" Neji had asked them this everyday since he first asked them to his house. If they decided to back out, then the whole plan would go down the drain and he didn't plan on letting that happen.

Tenten sighed. "Yeah, we'll be there, right, Lee?"

"Absolutely! I would not miss this for an entire day of working out with Gai-sensei!" Gai-sensei was the high school gym teacher, but he took Lee under his wing in elementary school after he saw him getting picked on for being small. Lee has looked up to Gai ever since.

"Good." Neji replied _'Nothing's going to go wrong, Neji. Everything's going to go fine, stop worrying.'_

Neji had to keep reminding himself not to worry, but who could blame him? Hinata was like his sister. They've been thinking of ways to keep her alive since before most kids knew what the word surviving meant and this weekend had the power to ruin all of that if something went wrong.

Nothing was going to go wrong though, right?

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Standing behind the school, Hinata almost convinced herself it was a normal day; That she was going to go home in a few minutes and then she'd do her chores and try her best to stay out of Hiashi's way. But as she watched her father's car drive away, reality set in that she wasn't going home.

Everyone had agreed that it would be best for Hiashi to see Hinata after school so that he wouldn't suspect she had a place to stay this weekend. Sasuke should be coming to pick her up any minute now to show her the way to his house.

Oh, how she hoped she wouldn't mess this up. What if Neji was right and this was all a big mistake?

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Hinata slowly sat down on the ground and started breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth very slowly. When she heard footsteps, she glanced up to see Sasuke standing directly in front of her.

"Ready to go?" he asked, while holding out his hand to help her up. Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded and took his hand.

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The walk to the Uchiha household was pretty awkward. Neither of them being very big conversationalists, it was fairly silent, with Sasuke giving directions every once in a while.

"Here's where we ran into each other the other day," Hinata blushed at this, but it went unnoticed by Sasuke. "I guess you came from that way, but to get to my house you just keep going straight."

Being in the Uchiha residence was the exact opposite of being at Hinata's house. As soon as the two teens walked in, Mikoto Uchiha was there, asking questions and looking every bit the happy host.

"You must be Hinata! How are you? Please, have a seat. Would you like a snack? I can whip up something if you want. So, who are your parents? I'm sure they're nice people." It was all too much for Hinata. She felt as though she was being interrogated.

"Um, uh, y-yes, I'm Hinata. Oh, I'm, uh, f-fine. No, th-thank you, I'm not h-hungry. Um. . ."

"Mom! Leave her alone! Yeesh, you sound like you're trying to write her life story."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just so excited! It's been so long since someone other than Naruto or Sakura came to the house. Well, you two have fun. Sasuke's father will be home in about an hour and I'll start supper then."

"Alright, Mom, we'll be in my room."

Sasuke's room was the second door on the left at the top of the stairs. The first was the bathroom and across from Sasuke's room was his brother, Itachi's room. His parents bedroom, the living room, kitchen, laundry room, and a second bathroom were downstairs.

When Hinata walked into his room, she was surprised at what she saw. She wasn't sure what she expected to see, really. She had only been to Kiba and Shino's houses before and they were complete opposites. Kiba's room was a mess, while Shino's was neat. She supposed she figured Sasuke's would match his personaltiy, just like Kiba and Shino's matched there's, but she was wrong.

His room was neat, kinda like Shino's but there was still a bit of a mess. His desk was cluttered with papers and his bed wasn't made. That wasn't what shocked her, though. She assumed his room would have a dark feeling to it, similar to the one he let off at school. His room was a bit bright, however. Not bright like a little girl's room, with pinks and purples, but there weren't many dark blues or blacks to decorate his room either. His walls were a cream color and his carpet was white.

The only things in his room that matched what Hinata had in her head were his bed spread and his curtains. His curtains were a dark blue with black specks throughout them and his bedsread was black with white and dark blue patterns on it.

Even though what she saw surprised her, Hinata decided she liked his bedroom. To her, it said more about him than how he acted at school ever could.

"I, um, l-like your room. . ." Hinata said. It was a bit mumbled and the last part was barely audible as she trailed off into silence. Poking her pointer fingers together, she prayed she wouldn't have to repeat herself.

"Oh, thanks, I guess." Hinata let out a sigh of relief. "We won't be staying in here, though. Itachi fixed up the garage about a year ago, so he didn't always have to stay in the house. I guess he wanted to feel more independent or something, but, anyway, he's going to let us use it this weekend."

"Oh, ok, that's nice of him."

"Yeah, he's a pretty good brother when he wants to be."

"You're not too bad yourself," said a voice behind the two teens. Hinata squeaked and jumped three feet in the air. When her feet were planted firmly back on the ground she made sure to hide herself behind Sasuke, which was easy to do, considering he was at least a head taller than her and twice her size. Sasuke just looked angry.

"Itachi! Don't you know how to knock?!"

"Why, no, I don't think I've learned that skill yet." Sasuke glared.

"What do you want?"

"I came to meet our houseguest, of course. Where is she?" he asked, looking around.

"She's right here. Now say 'hi' and get out," he replied, stepping aside to make Hinata visible. Itachi's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the little girl in from of him. There was no way this girl was the same age as his brother; She was much too small. He quickly composed himself and hoped it wasn't noticable.

He stretched his hand toward her and made note of the way she flinched away from him. "Hello. My name is Itachi. I'm Sasuke's older brother. Welcome to our house."

Slowly, Hinata placed her hand in his and shook hands with the older boy. "U-um, th-thank you, Itachi-san. I'm H-Hinata, um, Hyuuga."

"Pleasure to meet you. I hope my greeting was much saner than my mother's." His comment made the small Hyuuga giggle and Sasuke smiled at the sound of her laughter. It was the first time he had ever heard it. "Well, I suppose I'll see you at dinner."

When the door shut behind Itachi's leaving form, Sasuke turned to Hinata. "Sorry about that, my family's excited that someone other than Naruto and Sakura are here." Hinata blushed at the sound of Naruto's name, which did not go unnoticed by Sasuke. He smirked, but let it go.

"So, what do you want to do? Whatever you want, I'll make it happen. This is your weekend!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Oh, um, I'm not sure. What do you usually do on the weekends?"

"Eh, not much, hang around here, go to the movies, walk, the usual weekend type stuff, you know."

"Of course, normal stuff, what was I thinking?"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that! I wasn't thinking. I guess that isn't your normal weekend schedule is it?" Sasuke tried to cover up his blunder. He wasn't used to having a friend he had to be careful talking to.

"No, it's not, but it's okay. Why don't you pick something?" Hinata smiled at the flustered Uchiha.

"Alright, how about a walk?"

"O-okay, let's go!"

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"Bye, Mom, we're going for a walk!"

"Okay, be back by seven!" Mikoto yelled back as Sasuke and Hinata made there way to the door.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Half way down the street, Sasuke broke the silence. "So, how are you? You know, you're not hurt, are you?"

Hinata looked at the ground for a moment, then stared at a nearby tree. For a long time, she stayed silent and Sasuke was beginning to wonder if she had heard him at all. Finally, she spoke.

"I'm always h-hurt, but I'm no more hurt than usual right n-now, so, I-I suppose, in retrospect, I'm alr-r-right." Hinata smiled, but Sasuke wasn't sure if it was a real smile or not. He was about to apologize, but a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Sasuke! What's up?" Both of them turned to see a boy coming up behind them with a bag of chips.

"Hn, I'm taking a walk. Where's Blondie and Shikamaru?" Hinata noticed how Sasuke's personality instantly changed when someone else was around.

"Oh, Ino forgot something back at her house and drug Shikamaru along to go get it. They should be coming along any minute now." Choji suddenly noticed Hinata standing there. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there. You're the girl who hangs out with Kiba and Shino, right? I'm Choji, nice to meet you."

"Hinata, it's n-nice to meet you too." She said with another smile.

"Want some of my chips?" Choji asked politely.

"Oh, n-no, I couldn't!" She stated, waving her hands in front of her.

"Suit yourself, but they're rea-"

"SAUSKE-KUN!" The sound of the voice that suddenly rang out through the air was so loud and shrill that Hinata was sure her heart stopped for a good three seconds.

Making a quiet 'meep' sound, she hurriedly jumped behind Sasuke. Sasuke chuckled and Choji gave him a weird look, having not heard such a sound from Sasuke before.

The owner of the voice finally caught up to their small, but growing group of people, along with a much quieter, and much lazier, boy with hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Sorry it took so long Choji. Ino decided she had to re-apply her make-up before we left. . . Twice."

"Oh, you don't understand! A female must _always _look her best! You never know when you may meet someone worth being dressed up for." she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Really? And would that someone be standing right there?"

"What? Oh, Sasuke-kun! I didn't even see you there!" she lied, even though not three minutes ago, she had excitedly screamed his name.

"Hn." Hinata decided she didn't like it when he said that word. It made him sound too emotionless and it scared her.

"Oh, you're so cool! Have you been working out?" Apparently, Hinata was the only one who thought that way.

"No. Come on, Hinata, let's go." Ino's ears perked up at the soud of another person's name.

"Hinata? Hinata who?"

Instead of Sasuke answering however, it was Choji. "This Hinata!" he said, dragging the poor girl out from behind her hiding place.

Ino's nose turned up in disgust at the sight of the tiny girl in front of her. "You're that girl who lives on the streets, right? What are you doing hanging out with Sauske-kun?"

"U-um, well, no, n-not exactly." Hinata mumbled, trailing off at the end.

"She's hanging out with me because I want her too and no, she doesn't live on the streets. Now, get lost." Sasuke came to her rescue. Before Ino had a chance to respond, Sasuke drug her up the street.

As they were leaving, Hinata could hear the trio's conversation.

"Bye, guys!" Choji exclaimed.

"See ya. Can I go back to sleep now?" Shikamaru lazily commented.

"Ugh, why was I stuck with you two as best friends?" Ino complained in her whiny voice.

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The walk continued on in silence, which was okay with Hinata. She prefered the silence to the forced casual conversation. Once, when she looked to her right, she saw something that made an excited smile creep onto her face. Shyly, she grabbed at Sasuke's sleeve and pulled on it to get his attention.

Looking down, he gave her a questioning look. She smiled and pointed at what was across the street.

"The park? You want to go to the park?"

A light blush appeared across her face and she nodded. "Yes, please."

"Alright, let's go then!" Smiling even wider, Hinata grabbed Sasuke's hand and dragged him across the street and into the Konoha Public Park.

"I haven't b-been to a park in y-years!" Sasuke smiled slightly at the look on the Hyuuga's face. She reminded him of a little kid. Thinking deeper on the matter, Sasuke figured she never really got to be a little kid, so being one now is the next best thing. With this thought in mind, Sasuke attempted to give her the best day at the park she could hope for.

First, they went on the swings because, really, who doesn't love the swings? After that, Sasuke took her to the monkey bars. The effort it took to hold herself up caused her bruised body to scream in defiance, so she wasn't very good at those, but none-the-less, she had fun. When she decided the monkey bars were a lost cause, they went over to the slide. Hinata loved the feel of falling and knowing you were going to be safe, much like the swings.

On the merry-go-round, Hinata learned that Sasuke didn't take spinning very well. It amused her that something as simple as a playground ride could make the great Uchiha Sasuke sick, but she never voiced this opinion out loud. Lastly, Sasuke took her over to the sand box and helped her make silly little shapes in the sand. They tried making sand castles, but the sand was too dry.

On the way home Hinata had a smile on her face that was brighter than any Sasuke had seen on her yet. It made him feel good that he was able to make her genuinely happy for at least a little bit.

Suddenly, Hinata quickly threw her arms around Sasuke's shoulders. "Thank you very much, Sasuke. That was the most fun I've had in a long time!"

Sasuke gave a small smile and hugged her back. He liked hugging her a lot more when she was happy than he did when she was blubbering and crying.

Pulling away, he said "Come on, let's go eat."

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**A/N- Well, there you have it. I think that's a pretty good stopping point. Again, I'm really, really sorry for the long wait. If anyone is actually still reading this, I'll try to have another chapter up soon for you in order to compensate.**

**Please review! Flames are accepted and considered, as long as you have a reason worth listening to ('This is stupid because Naruto sucks!' is not accepted), constructive critism is brilliant, and praises make my day!**


	5. An Eventful Weekend

**A/N- I'm back! Despite the fact that my stepdad took control of my computer for a while, this chapter is, luckily, out a lot faster than the last one! ^_^'**

**Well, I hope you like this chapter! I know I do!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or **_**Those Nights**_**. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and **_**Those Nights**_** belongs to Skillet. I am not nor do I plan on making money off this story in any way, shape, or form. All rights go to their respected owners.**

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"Well, here it is!" Sasuke said with a flourish of his hand. It was silent for a moment while Sasuke thought about what he just did. "Uh, let's pretend I never did that. . ."

Hinata giggled. Smiling she asked, "Did what?"

"Right, anyway, what do you think? Itachi fixed it up." He was asking about the garage, which they were currently standing in.

"It's nice! H-he did all this without a-any pr-professional help?"

"Eh, yeah, sorta. He had some help from his friends. They know some people, I think, but other than that, yeah, all on his own."

"That's amazing!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess." replied Sasuke, trying to sound cool.

"So, what do w-we do at sl-sleepovers?"

"Um, well, I don't know. Do you like TV?" Hinata thought for a moment and then her face lit up.

"Yes! There was a sh-show I used to w-watch as a kid. It was called. . ." Her brow furrowed in concentration. "It was c-called. . . Ch-chibi Maruko-chan!"

"Chibi Maruko-chan, seriously?" Sasuke tried to hold in his laughter. Hinata looked confused.

"Yes. I remember it b-being a very good show. Wh-what's so funny?"

"Don't get me wrong, it is a good show, but it's for little kids!"

"Oh. . . I-I'm sorry. . ."

"Oh, no, you don't have to be sorry! You didn't know. Maybe we can just turn on the TV and see what we find?"

"O-okay."

Grabbing the remote off the coffee table, he flipped on the TV and plopped down on the couch. "We're also going to work on that stutter of yours this weekend."

"My st-stutter?"

"Yeah, we're gonna fix it," he replied matter-of-factly, "Have a seat."

"Oh, um okay." Timidly, she sat beside the boy and looked at the channels passing by on the TV.

"What about this?"

"Uh, o-okay." she replied and Sasuke stopped flipping channels to watch a Korean show called Perfect Girl Evolution. They watched TV for a while, making conversation now and then, when Sasuke noticed Hinata start to yawn. Quietly, he stood and walked over to the light switch. After he flipped the switch, he made his way back to the couch.

"Why did you t-turn the lights o-off?" Hinata asked when he sat back down.

"You looked tired and this way, I don't have to do it later."

"Oh, okay, um th-thank you."

"No problem." After a while of silence, Hinata tried to speak up.

"So, um, do, do you, uh, n-nevermind." Sasuke's brow furrowed.

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing, I just. . . It's, um, qu-quiet."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"I-I don't know. . ." Sasuke thought for a moment.

"Do you like music?"

Hinata's face lit up. "Yes! I l-love music! My moth- uh, um, yeah, m-music's nice. . ." she trailed off. Sasuke was curious about why she suddenly stopped her thought, but decided not to push her. There was obviously a lot about Hinata she didn't want to talk about and, given her situation, Sasuke couldn't blame her.

"I have just the thing then!" He said and jumped up. Going over to the stand by the wall, he swiftly turned on the radio, changed it to a good station, and then muted the T.V., keeping it on only for light. "This work?"

"Yes! Of c-course!"

"Say it again."

Hinata stared at him. "What?"

Sasuke smiled. "I said, say it again. I told you we were gonna work on your stutter this weekend. You don't have any reason to be afraid, at least not here, so no stuttering!"

Hinata continued to stare blankly until a timid smile started to form on her face. "Yes. Of course," she said again, much slower, making sure not to fumble with her words.

"Better!" Sasuke said triumphantly.

The two continued to talk throughout the night. Sasuke was usually the one to bring up a topic, but Hinata added her fair share to the conversation as well. Before the two teens new it, it was already two in the morning.

Sasuke glanced at the clock and his eyes grew wide. "That late already! We should probably get to sleep, what do you say?"

Hinata's face fell, but she tried to not make it obvious. "Um, okay, y-yeah." Sasuke stared at her, making her giggle and then correct herself, " Okay, yeah." This caused Sasuke to smirk.

"Alright, so, you can put your sleeping bag wherever you want." Hinata stopped. She didn't have a sleeping bag. What was she going to do? She couldn't tell him that, he'd just make fun of her. But she couldn't NOT tell him, it'd be pretty obvious when she attempted to sleep on the floor.

Wait, that might work. She'll just play it off and lay on the floor. Yeah, maybe he wouldn't notice that way.

So, Hinata set about finding a comfortable place on the ground to sleep. Sasuke had already flung out his sleeping bag when he glanced over at Hinata lying on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

"Mind telling me why you're sleeping on the floor?"

"Why not? So are you." Hinata replied, making sure not to stutter.

Sasuke's brow drew together. "Well, yeah, but I'm in a sleeping bag. It makes the ground comfortable."

"Um, well, I, I just. . . I like the floor." Hinata replied, hoping Sasuke wouldn't push it.

"Don't you have a sleeping bag?"

_'Darn it.'_ "Uh, ano, well, no. . ." Hinata barely whispered.

Sasuke frowned. Hinata waited for him to laugh at her, but he never did. Instead he replied with, "Well, why didn't you say so?" and got up to get her a sleeping bag. He'd let her sleep on the couch, but it was pretty old and not all that comfortable to sleep on.

Grabbing the extra sleeping bag Itachi kept in the closet, he spread it out a few feet from him. Close enough that he could keep an eye on her but not so close that it was uncomfortable. He thought about turning off the radio, but when he looked at Hinata quietly humming the song, he decided to let it play through the night.

"There you go." he said and waited for her to get settled in the sleeping bag.

"Thank you," she began, "but it's really not necessary. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"I mind, though, so sleep." Hinata looked down, ashamed, and then climbed into the sleeping bag. It was very comfortable, but Hinata was upset she had to ask for one at all.

Sasuke also climbed into his sleeping bag and turned to face Hinata. "Comfortable?"

"Uh, yes," she replied, not wanting him to know how ashamed she felt.

"Good, good night." Sasuke said and then closed his eyes to sleep.

"Good night." Hinata replied before also shutting her eyes and falling into a restless sleep. It was like Hinata's body knew she was in an unfamiliar place. It was on edge throughout the night, causing Hinata to get a minimal amount of rest, while still being asleep.

Around 6:30, only four and a half hours after they had went to sleep, Hinata awoke on instinct. Confused, she sat up and looked around, wondering where she was. She didn't recognize her surroundings, but she did recognize the time on the clock next to her.

_6:30 a.m._

"Oh n-no!" Hinata said out loud, "I-I'm late!" She began to struggle, but found she couldn't remove her blankets. What was going on? She couldn't move, she didn't know where she was, and her father was going to be angry with her for being late. Suddenly she felt a pair of strong hands grab her shoulders and hold her still.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" The hands were connected to a body and that body had a voice- a voice that knew her name. Hinata still didn't know what was going on, but she had to get up.

"I'm l-late! Father will w-want his t-tea!" she used 'father', because she didn't know who she was talking to.

"Hinata... Hinata, look at me! Stop struggling! You don't have to get your father anything, you're not at home, you're at my house!" Hinata stopped struggling.

"What?"

"You're here, with me, you don't have to do anything. Calm down." Sasuke's face finally came into view and the memories of the night before and where she was came rushing back. Her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes grew wide.

"I'm so s-s-sorry! I-I didn't r-remember and I couldn't m-move! I'm s-so sorry!" Hinata didn't cry, but Sasuke could tell if she wasn't afraid of showing emotions, she would be. He pulled her into a hug and held his apologizing friend in his arms.

"It's okay, it's an honest mistake. Don't worry, everything's fine." He continued to say reassuring things while she calmed down the rest of the way. Eventually, her arms wrapped aroud him as well and she muttered one final "I'm sorry."

Sasuke wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but he suddenly became very aware that he was sitting on his garage floor, holding a girl in a sleeping bag. Gently, he pulled back, knowing if someone walked in, it would be hard to explain their position.

"You okay?" he asked. Hinata nodded and let go of him. Trying to lighten the mood, Sasuke said, "You know, I think I've hugged you more in the week I've known you than I've hugged any of my other friends ever? That's saying something, huh?"

Hinata looked at him. "Um, I g-guess so. . . What is it s-supposed to s-say?"

Sasuke blanked. "I dunno, I just thought it was funny, I guess."

"Oh, okay. Y-yeah, it's funny, th-then!" Hinata replied, trying to appease him. It was the least she could do, at least. Sasuke then yawned loudly.

"I think we should go back to sleep, what do you say?"

Hinata nodded, smiling. This would be the first time in a long time she had slept in on a Saturday, or any day of the week for that matter.

Sasuke fell asleep instantly, but Hinata continued to simply lay there. Her body still felt uncomfortable. It knew it didn't belong here. It should be up and doing something. It should be somewhere else. Hinata turned to look at Sasuke. He was already back to sleep.

Timidly, Hinata scooted closer to Sasuke, trying to feel like she belonged here. She didn't know why being closer to the dark headed boy made her feel better, but it did, so she scooted until her body was only about six inches from his. She hoped he wouldn't take it the wrong way when he woke up. She simply felt safer lying closer to him than she did when she was farther away.

Hinata finally fell into a restful, dreamless slumber. Unknown to her, however, Sasuke was still awake and heard her scoot closer. When her breathing evened out and Sasuke was sure she was asleep, he opened his eyes.

At first he wasn't sure why she had scooted closer, but he liked it. He didn't like her being too far away from him. He was always afraid that something would happen to her. Just like when her struggling had woken him up, Sasuke had been so scared, even though he knew nothing could happen to her here.

Maybe that's why she had scooted closer, because she was afraid too, even though he knew she'd never admit it. She grew up in a home where being afraid was bad and got her hurt. All her emotions were pretty bottled up. All she showed was quiet shyness. He had heard her laugh, but he wondered how many of her smiles and laughs were real and how many were forced.

Quietly, he grabbed her hand in his and intertwined their fingers before drifting off to sleep, for the frist time since he met her, not worrying over her safety. She was here, with him, and nothing was going to hurt her.

"So, Neji, we're here, what have you got planned?" Tenten asked.

Neji stayed silent, thinking. He had spent all week making sure Hinata was going to be safe this weekend and completely forgot to plan how to enertain his own guests. "Normal sleepover activities." he replied, as if it was obvious.

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Really? And what would those 'normal sleepover activities' be?"

Once again Neji paused and thought of anything he could that would help him out of this fix. Then a movie he saw once came into his mind and he grabbed two pillows from his bed. One he handed to Tenten and one he handed to Lee. "Here, fight with these." Tenten's eyes widened.

"You want us to pillow fight?" Neji didn't have time to answer before Lee had taken his pillow and hit Tenten over the head with it.

"Yes! I shall show you the Power of Youth through this pillow fight!" Tenten's eyebrow twitched and she glared at Lee.

"Why you!" With that, the pillow fight began and Neji smirked. He could do this. Hosting a sleepover wasn't that difficult at all!

Neji continued to watch the pillow fight until Tenten glanced over and an idea sparked in her head. She made eye contact with Lee and motioned her eyes toward the stoic boy sitting on his bed. Lee's eyes widened and he smiled, nodding his head vigoruosly when he caught on to his bun-haired friend's plan.

Smirking evily, Tenten slowly made her way toward Neji, while Lee did the same. Neji, not noticing their move toward him, continued watching them hit each other with pillows.

Suddenly Neji felt the smack of two pillows on his face and the feel of his bed as he was pushed back by the force of the attack.

Qucikly sitting up, he glared at his two "friends", who were laughing uncontrollably on the floor.

"What was that for?" he asked incredulously.

"You said you wanted a pillow fight!" Tenten said between laughs.

"Yes, Neji! You must join us in the fun of a pillow fight!" Lee added, though he could barely breathe through his laughter.

"I meant you two! You two have a pillow fight! You're the guests, so I entertain you! That doesn't mean I join in!"

"But Neji-" Tenten was interrupted by a knock at the door. Neji's face quickly became stoic again and his back straightened as he opened the door. Tenten and Lee both noticed his change in demeanor, but didn't question it much. Coming from a family with as high a status as the Hyuuga's must make life a bit different than when living with a family that doesn't have to keep up appearences.

What shocked them was when he opened the door and his shoulders relaxed and a smile spread across his face.

"Hello, Hanabi-chan!" he said, his voice obviously different than when he spoke to others. "What is it?"

"I heard you screaming! Is something wrong?" A small voice came from the doorway. The two guests couldn't see who the voice belonged to though, because the door blocked their view.

Neji squatted down, so that he was eye level with Hanabi. "No, nothing's wrong, Hanabi-chan. I'm sorry I yelled. Would you like to come in?"

Hanabi's eyes shown and she nodded her head, smiling from ear to ear. Neji smiled as well, though not as big and stepped aside so the eight year old could enter. Once she was inside, Neji closed the door and turned to his friends.

"Tenten, Lee, this is Hanabi." Hanabi smiled and said hi to both of them. For a moment, Neji marvelled at the difference between Hanabi and her sister.

Tenten smiled at Hanabi. "Hi! Are you Neji's sister?"

Hanabi nodded then paused. "Well, sorta. . ." Tenten looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

Hanabi opened her mouth, but Neji cut her off. "It's a long story. For all intents and purposes, she is my sister, but by blood we're cousins."

Tenten and Lee shared a glance then shrugged.

"It does not matter the technicalities! Family is family, nonetheless!" Lee exclaimed and hugged the little girl tightly. Hanabi tried getting out a sentence, but was finding it hard to speak.

Neji and Tenten both brought their fists down on Lee's head at the same time, causing him to drop the now red faced Hanabi and hold his swollen skull. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

"You shouldn't have held her so tight, Lee!"

"Are you alright, Hanabi-chan?"

"I'm fine, Neji-nii!" Neji glared at Lee.

"Control yourself!"

"I am sorry, Neij!" Lee replied, bowing.

Tenten, sensing the tension in the air, decided it was time to turn the mood to something better. "Hey, guys, shouldn't we finish the pillow fight? We'll be careful around Hanabi." she added, noticing Neji's stare.

Hanabi jumped up and down. "Can we? Can we?" she begged Neji.

Neji sighed then relented. "Alright, fine, but be careful!" Hanabi ran to her room and brought back a bunch of pillows.

"Choose your weapons!" She exclaimed then giggled. Picking up her favorite pillow, she raised it above her head and hit Lee in the face. "That's for strangling me!" she laughed.

Lee quickly recovered and grabbed a pillow, fighting back. Tenten joined in too and before long, they even convinced Neji to join, mainly thanks to Hanabi.

Soon, Hanabi was yawning and she laid down on Neji's bed to watch the others.

"Neji-nii?" she asked after a little while. Neji stopped and walked to his bed.

"What is it?"

"Um, well. . . Hinata-nee isn't here and normally she reads me a story before I go to bed, so. . ." she trailed off, hoping Neji would get the idea. Thankfully, he did.

"Come on, Hanabi-chan, let's go." He picked her up and carried her to her room. Before leaving his own room, he turned to address Lee and Tenten. "I'll be right back."

They both nodded. When Tenten was sure she could sneak without him seeing her, she followed to watch him, Lee right behind.

"Which story do you want, Hanabi?"

"This one!" Hanabi said, handing him one of the books from her shelf.

"Shibawanko no Wa no Kokoro," Neji read aloud. "Alright, then, we'll read one chapter, okay?" Hanabi nodded and then Neji began to read.

Tenten smiled from the other side of the door. Neji was so different around Hanabi. He was sweet and happy instead of stoic and virtually emotionless. She liked seeing this side of him.

When Neji had finished reading the chapter, he looked down and found Hanabi asleep with her head on his shoulder. He smiled and picked her up. Once he had tucked her in bed, he placed the book back on her shelf and made his way back to his room, not noticing Lee and Tenten rushing to get back to his room unnoticed.

Neji walked into his room and was immediately met with an overly excited Lee.

"Neji, you are a wonderful big brother! Hanabi is lucky to have you!" Neji looked confused and Tenten smacked the back of Lee's head.

"Lee! What's wrong with you!" Neji eyes narrowed.

"You were watching me?" he said slowly, dangerously.

"Oh, Neji, don't be mad! It's sweet the way you take care of her!" Neji blushed lightly and turned away so they couldn't see.

"Let's just continue this sleepover thing."

Tenten sighed exasperatedly. She'll never understand why guys don't like showing emotions. "Fine."

And they continued. Neji would occasionally go get some snacks, and they ended up watching a couple movies. All in all, it was a pretty good night, even if Neji wasn't really prepared.

Sasuke woke up hours later, still holding Hinata's hand. He blushed slightly and then remembered he was an Uchiha and repressed it. Uchihas don't get embarrassed, especially over a girl.

He didn't want to remove his hand. Not that he'd ever admit it, but he liked the feeling of it. What puzzled him was he didn't know why.

At the same time, though, he didn't want her to wake up and get the wrong idea. What if she woke up and thought he was trying to take advantage of her or was trying to stop her from moving?

Grunting, he rested his head against his sleeping bag and watched the Hyuuga's even breathing. She seemed so peaceful when she was asleep. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't frowning either, she was just... Content. Yeah, that was the word. She looked content.

Smiling softly, he wondered if she was dreaming of anything. Maybe she dreamed about being free one day or maybe she dreamed of her family finally being happy.

He stopped his musings as he noticed the sun shining through the window across the room. Glancing at the clock he noticed it was nearly eleven in the morning.

_'Wow, we slept in late,' _he thought,_ 'and she's still sleeping. It's probably been a while since she's had a good night's sleep. I should go get breakfast.' _Untangling himself from his sleeping bag, he removed his hand from Hinata's and heard her whimper in objection, which made a smirk appear on his face.

When he arrived in his kitchen, his mother was preparing breakfast. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. His mother was a wonderful cook and loved to do so, but she rarely cooked breakfast. Whether her and his father were arguing or she was working (she was a realator), she just normally didn't have the time.

"You're making breakfast?" he asked aloud. Mikoto looked up from the pancakes and bacon she was cooking and smiled.

"Yes! I thought since we had a special guest, I should make something extra special." she paused, just noticing their 'special guest' wasn't with her son. Her brow furrowed. "Uh, where is she?"

Sasuke smirked. His mother was funny sometimes. "She's still sleeping. I was going to bring her some breakfast for when she wakes up."

The frown on Mikoto's face quickly turned to a smile. "That's so sweet, Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked away, hoping to avoid his mother's mushy gaze. Being the youngest was a pain sometimes. "Anyway, can I just have a couple plates of food?" He knew his mother well, if she cooked the food, she was going to serve it as well.

"Of course!" she replied, "Just give me a minute to finish the rest of this bacon." Sasuke sighed. He didn't want to be gone all that long in case Hinata woke up and he wasn't there, but it didn't look like that was going to happen.

When Hinata awoke, she could feel something was wrong. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around. Confused, she sat up and looked around again. No, she wasn't mistaken. Sasuke was no where to be seen. She was alone.

She began to panic. Where was he? Why did he leave? Did she do something wrong? Is he angry with her?

The questions swirling in her mind halted as the door to the garage opened. Standing there, holding two plates full of delicious smelling food was Sasuke. She smiled, relieved and let out the breath she had been holding. Sitting the food down in front of her, he said, "Good, you're awake!"

Hinata let out a breath of relief, which didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke. Quirking his eye brow, he asked what was wrong.

Hinata blushed and looked down. "Um, w-well, you see, I, I just th-thought that you had left me. I thought you were m-mad and th-that you didn't want to, to be my friend a-anymore. . ." she trailed off and wouldn't look at the boy in front of her.

Sasuke just sat there for a little moment. He wasn't sure what to say. Why would he leave her? He invited her over didn't he? He assumed it was some psychological thing left behind from her father's treatment, but it was still hard for him to grasp how her first thought when he wasn't there was that he left her. Finally, he handed her a plate of food and softly said, "I'm not going anywhere."

Hinata smiled as she took the plate of food, but in side her head was a jumbled mess. If she was being honest with herself, she was extremely confused. Why was she so afraid of Sasuke leaving? She had known this person for less than a week and already, the thought of him leaving her and turning his back on her was enough to send her emotions haywire. She didn't understand the clenching in her chest when she imagined him becoming just another person to walk out of her life- physically or emotionally.

Shaking her head, she tried to think of something besides her jumbled thoughts and feelings and focus on the food that Mrs. Uchiha so graciously prepared for them.

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Opening his groggy eyes, Neji saw his two friends in the middle of his floor, chatting away. Glancing at the clock he had sitting on his desk, he noticed it was ten in the morning. "How long have you two been awake?" he asked, confused as to why he had slept so late.

Lee was the first to respond, though he didn't quite answer his question. "Neji! You have finally awaken and joined us in the youthful time of day that is morning!"

Tenten stared at Lee for a moment and then shook her head. "Normal people can't even pretend to be as energetic as you." Turning to Neji, she finally answered his question. "Anyway, we haven't been awake long. A half hour maybe? Hanabi came in and wanted you or Hinata to make her breakfast. I did it instead and now she's playing in her room."

Neji's head snapped up. "Hanabi's awake?" He stood to go check on her.

"Neji, she's fine. I just came back from checking on her. Don't be such a worry wart. You're gonna have a full head of grey hair by the time you're twenty-five." Tenten joked. Neji just scowled and sat back down.

"I'm assuming you ate as well, since you fixed Hanabi something to eat?"

"Absolutely not! To eat at someone else's home without the host being present is rude to the upmost level and most certainly not youthful!" Lee exclaimed.

Neji sighed. "Well, what do you want to eat?"

"Let Tenten-chan make you oatmeal!" A voice exclaimed from Neji's open door. There stood Hanabi in her pajamas with a coloring book and crayons in her hand. "It's really good."

Chuckling, Neji repremanded. "It's not polite to have your guest fix their own breakfast, Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi pouted cutely for a moment before getting over it and running to Neji's side. "Look at my picture, Nii-san!"

Hanabi's picture today wasn't as heart-wrenching as her last one, but rather a simple flower. It had pink petals, which was typical of Hanabi and a yellow middle. She outlined the petals in green as well. Neji chuckled lightly; he never understood his cousin's odd coloring patterns. He assumed it just came with being eight years old.

"It's nice, Hanabi-chan. Did you make that for Hiashi?"

"Uh-huh! Do you think he'll like it, Neji-nii?"

"Of course, Hanabi-chan," he replied, ruffling her hair and standing up. "Now, come on, we have to make our guests breakfast. Aren't you going to help?"

Hanabi's face brightened and she ran ahead of him. "Yeah! Let's go, Neji-nii!"

As soon as Hanabi was out of the room, his smile dropped and he turned to his two friends. "You will mention to no one what you have witnessed this weekend. I can not cook. I am not a mushy brother who will do anything for his sister. Is that clear?" Tenten snorted.

"Yeah, whatever you say. I swear, I'll never understand men." she began to walk off in the direction Hanabi had ran, but stopped when she was standing right beside Neji. "But just so you know, there's nothing hotter than a guy good with children," she whispered in a sing-songy voice. As she raced faster out of the room, she laughed at the glare she had glimpsed etched onto his face.

Tenten liked to poke fun at people. She didn't do it in a mean way, of course, but just to bring a laugh every now and then. She would never do it to someone who didn't know her, but her friends were a completely different story.

"Fear not, Neji! I shall not utter a word of your less-than-manly ways towards your sisterly cousin!" Neji's eyebrow twitched. _Less-than-manly?_

"Ugh," he groaned and rubbed his forehead, "I need new friends."

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Hinata and Sasuke had spent the entire day with each other. They had done so many things that Hinata had only ever dreamed about doing. They acted like little kids and played at the park. Sasuke even pushed Hinata on the swings! They took a lot of walks and they talked with his mother and Itachi some too! Hinata had a small smile on her lips as she and Sasuke walked into the Uchiha household after coming back from the ice cream store down the road.

The smile quickly fell, however when the first thing the heard when reentering the door was the loud banging of a door being slammed and two voices yelling. Hinata jumped and hid behind Sasuke, holding onto his shirt for support.

"Damn it, not now." she heard Sasuke mutter. What was going on? Why are there people yelling? Footsteps were then heard coming toward the living room where the two teens were still standing in the doorway, waiting for the storm to pass.

"What are you talking about? They just went for ice-cream!"

"You let our youngest son and a girl walk down the street _alone_? That girl is our responsibility while she's here! What if something happens?"

That's when Sasuke's mother noticed the two watching. "Nothing happend! They're right there! See?"

Exasperated, Fugaku threw his hands in the air. "You just don't get it!"

At this point, as she watched Mr. Uchiha's hands fly in the air, the only thing Hinata could think of was her father and the way he would throw his hands towards her when she did something wrong. She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see someone else being hurt.

Why were Sasuke's parents so angry? Was it something she did? Was there something wrong with the ice cream they got? She didn't mean to do anything wrong!

Sasuke growled under his breath. He told them to behave this weekend! He felt Hinata's hand tighten on his shirt and felt her head bury it's self into his back. He opened his mouth to say something, but another voice beat him to it.

"What the Hell, you guys?" Itachi said. He had come down the stairs to see what the newest argument was about when he noticed Hinata cowering behind his younger brother. It was on thing to argue with Sasuke and himself home, but to argue with a guest over? One who obviously had a problem with it? This has gone to far. "We have a guest over. Can't you two keep quiet for two days?"

That's when the two adults stopped their yelling and noticed their surroundings; Itachi standing at the foot of the stairs and Sasuke and Hinata standing at the door. Mikoto was the first to speak.

"We're so sorry, Hinata-chan! How inconsiderate of us!" She walked forward and gently pulled the frightened girl out from behind Sasuke and pulled her into a hug. Fugaku, stood there uncomfortabley off to the side, grumbling out an apology before walking off. Hinata was thankful he hadn't come forward and tried to hug her like his wife did. His actions scared her and she was worried she would react in a way that would give away her secret.

When Mikoto pulled away, she smiled lightly at Hinata and promised that they wouldn't fight anymore. With that, she walked away, saying something about making everyone some ice cream. No one thought it was the right time to remind her that Sasuke and Hinata had just eaten some ice cream from the store.

The rest of the weekend went off without much of a hitch. Now it was time for Hinata to go home. Sasuke walked her to her street, but let her walk the rest of the way, figuring it would be safer that way than for her father to know that she was with him all weekend.

When he arrived back home, he greeted his parents and went to walk up to his room. Just as he was about to open his door, Itachi put a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he gave Itachi a quizzical look.

"We need to talk."

Sasuke stared at his older brother. How was he supposed to answer this question? His fist clenched as he tried to come up with a logical explanation.

_"What's wrong with Hinata?"_

How did he know something was wrong anyway? It doesn't make sense! "I don't know what you're talking about." He replied in what he hoped was a convincing voice.

Itachi glared. "Come on, Sasuke! You've been beyond protective over her since you met her and you've known her less than a week! She tries to make it so you don't notice her exsistance and it's different than just being shy. And her reaction when Mom and Dad were fighting? She was terrified! That's not a reaction someone who hasn't been through a lot would have. She looked like she wanted to competely dissappear." Itachi paused, giving Sasuke time to soak everything in before continuing in a softer voice. "Now, please, Sasuke, tell me what's going on."

Sasuke felt a weird sensation in his chest and it made it ard to breathe. It felt like someone was squeezing his heart. What was he to do? He couldn't tell, but he wanted to. He wanted to help her, but there wasn't a damn thing he could do! The younger boy just shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. I can't."

Itachi sighed in frustration and massaged his temples. "Sasuke, if something is going on with this girl and you know, how will you feel if it gets out of hand and you could have prevented it? No amount of 'I'm sorry's would change what happened."

That made the feeling in Sasuke's chest get even worse. "I know," he croaked out, "but nothing's going on."

"Fine, go on then." Itachi replied. Sasuke did and when he got to his room, he sat on his bed and cried. What was he to do?

Itachi, on the other hand, grabbed his keys and left the house. He had some things he needed to do. Itachi wasn't a idiot. He knew something was up and even if he didn't know exactly what it was, he planned on preparing for the future.

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**A/N- So, what'd you think? Good? Bad? Incredibly horrible and I should just stop kidding myself? I tried adding in more characters than just Sasuke and Hinata. How do you think that went? Tell me whatever you think I need to know! Again, I'll try really hard to update quickly!**

**Please review! Flames are accepted and considered, as long as you have a reason worth listening to ('This is stupid because Naruto sucks!' is not accepted), constructive critism is brilliant, and praises make my day!**

*** Chibi Maruko-chan is a japanese kid show based off a manga by Momoko Sakura.**

*** Perfect Girl Evolution: Wallflower is one of my favorite mangas and was turned into a live action Korean TV series.**

*** ****Shibawanko no Wa no Kokoro is a Japanese story book. When translated to english, it means Shibawanko's Spirit of Wa or something like that.**

**Any other questions, just ask!**


	6. Notice!

***NOTICE***

**As you may have noticed, I deleted and re-uploaded Chapter 5. This is because, after playing around with the next chapter, I realized if I took it the way I wanted to, I would probably mess it up. So, instead of the next chapter being all about Itachi (as originally intended), it will be a normal chapter, but with a time skip. The reasons for this will be revealed in later chapters, most likely during the last few chapters of the story. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused, but this way, the next chapter is out sooner, because I know what I'm doing now!**

**So, anyway, if you haven't yet, go read the last part of the newly published chapter 5: An Eventful Weekend and keep a lookout for Chapter 6!**

**-ShyShinobi**


	7. Karin

**A/N- Chapter six is here! This chapter is set about a year and a half-ish after the last one. This means Hinata, Sasuke, and friends are in the ninth grade, Neji, Lee, and Tenten are in the tenth grade, and Hanabi is in the fifth grade. Because the month is October, Hinata is still 14 and Lee is still 15 (Hinata's birthday is December 27th and Lee's is November 27th). Hanabi is 10 and Itachi is 20. I think that avout covers it, but if there are any other questions, please leave a reveiw or PM me and I'll be sure to get back to you.**

**P.S. There will be Karin bashing in this fic. No, I don't hate her, but someone has to be the bad guy (girl) in this fic and I chose her because she has a history of being a Sasuke fangirl. Please don't flame me in Karin's defense. Also, I don't like having Hiashi as the bad guy either. I like him better as the distant, but still loving in his own way father. I don't hate either character, so please don't think I do. Thank you.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, the characters, or the song Those Nights by Skillet. I am in no way making money off of this fanfiction, nor do I plan to.**

**Happy Independence Day to my American readers! :3**

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Hinata smiled as she walked over to her normal table at lunch, being greeted by her friends and taking her everyday seat in between Shino and Kiba.

"H-hello, everyone," she said quietly.

"Hina-chan! Please tell me you have a copy of the homework for Kakashi-sensei's math class!" Ino shrieked.

Giggling, she replied, "Yes, I do. Would you like to borrow it?"

"Yes, pleeease!"

"You know, Hinata, if you keep letting her copy your work, she'll never learn anything on her own." Came a lazy voice from beside the blonde female.

"Shut up, Shika!" Ino replied, angrily, "This is only the third time ever!"

Hinata smiled at her friends interaction and looked around at the rest of the table. There was Kiba and Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, Naruto and Sakura, some new guy named Sai, and, of course, Sasuke. Surprisingly, it had been Sakura who had offered her a seat at lunch. At first, she had refused, because she always sat with Kiba and Shino, but after she said they could come too, she agreed happily.

_The indigo haired teen quietly made her way to the back of the lunch room with her lunch tray, head bowed. Before she could make it, however, a loud voice called her name._

_"Hinata!" Turning around she saw Sakura standing and waving her hand in the air, trying to get her attention. Biting her lip, the young Hyuuga glanced back and forth between her table and Sakura. Kiba and Shino had already stood up, waiting for the confrontation that was almost sure to come. Sakura didn't have a record of being very nice to Hinata after all. But, then again, she was nice to her in the bathroom a couple days ago, so maybe...?_

_Taking one last look at Kiba and Shino, she shrugged gently and made her way to Sakura._

_"Y-yes, Haruno-san?"_

_"Why don't you sit with us from now on?" Hinata blinked. What? Had she heard that right? Her sit with Sakura and her friends?_

_"What d-do you m-mean, Haruno-san?"_

_Sakura laughed. "I mean, you take your lunch tray, you sit it on this table," she pointed to the table she was standing in front of, "and you sit and eat and talk with us."_

_"Oh, um, I-I'd love to, Haruno-san, but, I alre-already sit with K-Kiba-kun and Shino-kun." Sakura frowned for moment before an idea popped into her head._

_"Bring them with you! We have plenty of room!"_

_Hinata beamed. "Really?"_

_"Of course! Go on and get them!"_

_"Okay!"_

Now, it'd be a lie if everything went smoothly at first. For starters, Kiba and Shino didn't really trust Sakura for multiple- and very good- reasons. In their minds, the only reason The Pink Haired Princess would want to talk to "Bug Boy", "Dog Breath", and "The School's Mouse" was to end up torturing them in the end. Sakura's friends were welcoming, but also a little taken aback by Sakura's sudden change in attitude and a little wary of why she had suddenly brought over the Seventh Grade Dorks (Sakura's title for Hinata and her friends, not theirs).

It took the last three months of their seventh grade year for everyone to really start to get along and be friends. That summer had been one of the best Hinata could remember. Everytime her father would go on a business trip, Hinata would hang out with her new group of friends. Since then, her life has been a little bit brighter and a little bit happier.

She never would have been able to make it through elementary school without Kiba and Shino and they were still the bestest friends she could ever ask for, but she would be lying if she said having more friends wasn't a great turning point in her life. Now Ino and herself had gotten really close too. Ino would take Hinata shopping sometimes (well, Ino would shop and Hinata would follow her around.) Sometimes Ino would buy Hinata things too. Hinata would pack them in her backpack and change after she left the house and before she came back.

And, of course, there was Sasuke, who-

Hinata's musings were interupted by a familiar loud voice. "Hey guys, guess what!" Naruto's voice rang out across their table as he bounded up with his lunch tray.

Hinata's crush on the boy had dwindled ever since the day he let Sakura bully her and didn't do anything about it. He was nice to her now, but she realized that he would always have a crush on Sakura and would do anything for her.

"You finally found the guy who stole your brain?" Kiba joked, causing the table to laugh.

"No! Shut up, Dog Breath!" Kiba just smirked. The nicknames that used to be used to torment Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were now just simple nicknames.

"Just spit it out already, Dobe," Sasuke said impatiently.

"Fine, fine. My cousin," he said, pausing for dramatic effect. "is moving to Konoha!"

There was a collective groan from Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. "Please tell me it's not Karin," Sasuke replied, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

Naruto frowned, "Yeah, it is, why?"

"Naruto, she's horrible!" Ino exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, she isn't that bad! I promise, she's gotten a lot better since her last visit!" He replied.

Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and Sai were all lost. It was Sai who spoke up, though. "Who is this cousin of yours, Dickless?"

"What did you say, you pale freak?" Naruto yelled, instantly becoming angry. The rest of lunch was spent with Naruto yelling at Sai and Sai just smiling his ever creepy smile. As they left the cafeteria, Hinata realized they were never told who Naruto's cousin was. All she knew was her name is Karin.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun?" Hinata spoke up on the way home. Kiba, Shino, Sasuke, and Hinata had all began walking home together. Sasuke thought it was a nice way to keep her company and and Kiba and Shino, worried for her protection, had convinced their parents to let them walk home as well, instead of taking the bus. Since then, it had become an everyday routine.

"Hm?" he questioned.

"Who's Karin? I m-mean at lunch no one got a-around to explaining it, so..." the quiet girl trailed off and Sasuke frowned, obviously not enjoying the turn the conversation had taken.

"Indeed, we were never informed of the girl called Karin who no one seemed to care for." Shino said in his always quiet and wise voice.

"She's Naruto's annoying cousin. There actually not even that closely related, but Naruto calls her his cousin. Her dad is his mom's second cousin or something off the wall like that. She's annoying and a real bitch."

"Sasuke-kun! That isn't very n-nice!"

Sasuke smirked. "So? It's true."

"Haha! Lighten up, Hinata-chan!"

"But, Kiba-kun!" Still laughing, Kiba pulled the shy girl into a one armed hug and ruffled her hair.

"Calm down. Not everyone can be as nice as you, you know?" he stated, leaving his arm around Hinata's shoulders as they continued to walk. Hinata sighed, shaking her head at her best friends. They continued to walk home, talking about random things. First to reach their house was Shino, and then Kiba. Sasuke and Hinata continued to walk until they came to the fork in the road that led to their respective houses, at which point they parted ways.

Sasuke entered his house to find it eerily quiet. It had been a little quieter since Itachi left, but never this quiet. His parents could always be found arguing over something or other. As he shut the door, he finally heard his mother call him to the kitchen.

Walking into the room, he noticed both his mother and father sitting at the table with serious expressions on their faces. He could already tell he wasn't going to like what they had to say.

"Sit down, Honey, we need to talk."

Cautiously, the raven headed boy took a seat. "What is this about?" he asked, again cautiously.

This is when his father decided to clear his throat and speak up. "We're getting a divorce."

Sasuke couldn't explain what he was feeling. It was like there was something in his throat that was making it hard to breathe and impossible to talk. He tried to say something, but he couldn't; he just sat there, gaping like a fish.

He had seen this coming, hadn't he? They fought all the time and he and Itachi had made bets, wagering on how long they would last, so why did it come as such a shock? Finally, he was able to muster one word. "Okay." Then he took off to his bedroom.

Mikoto attempted to go after him, but Fugaku grabbed her arm. Turning, she glared at him, but Fugaku spoke before she had the chance. "Let him go. He needs to work this out on his own first."

The raven haired mother continued to glare for a moment before her eyes softened and she nodded, taking a seat beside her soon to be ex husband.

Hinata struggled to her feet after yet another beating from her ever loving father. Limping, she made her way to the basement and laid down on her bed, quietly listening for the sound of her father's snoring. Hanabi was already in bed and so was Neji, making it the perfect "Father Daughter Bonding Time". Hinata laughed dryly at the thought.

When she finally heard the sound of Hiashi sleeping, she tiptoed over to the small basement window and crawled out of it. It had become a routine that whenever Hinata's father would beat her, she would go to Sasuke's and whenever Sasuke's parents fighting got out of hand, he would come to hers. Of course, she would sneak out if he came there and they'd spend some time in the forest near her house.

Pulling herself up the tree outside her stoic friend's bedroom, she lightly tapped on the window. Moments later, the window was pulled open and she scurried in. Glancing up, she saw Sasuke plop down on his bed and stare at the ceiling with his arm over his forehead. Quietly, she sat on the edge of his bed, watching him.

"What's wrong?" She whipsered, almost afraid she'd scare him. He looked so different than the usual Sasuke. The Sasuke she knew was strong and never let much bother him. The person laying beside her was obviously bothered by something.

"Nothing." he said gruffly. "What did he do to you?"

"What? Oh!" Hinata had nearly forgotten why she had come here in the first place. She just shook her head. "It doesn't m-matter. What's wrong? Are they f-fighting again?"

"Yes, it matters, Hinata. Do you need any bandages?" Hinata glared slightly.

"Wh-why are you avoiding the qu-question? I can t-tell something's wrong!" She said, slightly louder than normal. Sasuke glared right back.

"I said it was nothing, now just let it go!" Sasuke hadn't noticed how harsh his voice sounded until it had come out of his mouth. Even then, however, he couldn't bring himself to apologize.

Hinata frowned, the fire leaving her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I-I'll just l-leave th-then." She stood and limped over to the window. She was half way outside when Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

"Wait," he said, head bowed and eyes shadowed. "I'm sorry, okay. Just... Just come back inside." He would never in his life say 'I don't want to be alone', but that was what he meant. He had been in his room all night, refusing to come out and talk to anyone, but he wanted someone to be there, just as much as he didn't want someone to be there. He couldn't explain it, but that's what he felt. Thankfully, Hinata seemed to understand without his messed up explanation, as she nodded her head slightly and stumbled back into the room, taking a seat back on his bed.

This time, though, she stayed silent, as did Sasuke. The youngest Uchiha was still standing by the window in the same position he had been in before grabbing his female friend's wrist. Quietly, he walked over to where Hinata was sitting and sat beside her, laying his head on her shoulder.

Ever so cautiously, so she didn't anger him again, she reached her hand up and ran it through his hair. Seeing as he didn't seem to mind, she continued to run her fingers through his raven locks the way she would do to Hanabi whenever she was upset about something.

Sasuke opened his eyes and the frist thing he saw was one of his car magazines laying on his desk. This sparked an idea in the young boy's mind. "Hey."

"Hey," Hinata replied.

"Let's go for a ride."

Hinata was confused. "What do you m-mean?"

"I mean just what I said. Let's go for a ride. Itachi has been taking me out driving some. What do you say?"

Hinata nibbled her lip lightly. It was against the law. And if they were caught, there was no telling how much trouble they'd be in. It really was a bad idea.

But, then again, what's life without risks? And she'll be beaten again eventually anyway and Sasuke doesn't seem like he's too worried about being caught, so... "Okay."

Sasuke lifted his head to look at her. "Really?"

The pale eyed girl nodded. "Mhmm. Let's go."

It didn't take them long to shimmy down the tree and make it tothe car parked in the driveway. Sasuke had to grab the keys to the car first and then they were off.

Hinata couldn't stop herself from giggling as Sasuke drove them down the road toward's the Shodai River, named after the first mayor of Konoha. Sasuke kept his eyes on the road, but couldn't help but to smirk. The Uchiha wasn't the greatest driver, but thankfully, there weren't many cars on the road this late at night.

"We're going to be in so much t-trouble if we get caught!" Hinata exclaimed through her giggles.

"Then I guess we can't get caught," came Sasuke's smooth reply.

Hinata just smiled. "Yeah, you're right."

It didn't take long for them to get to the river and when they did, they simply sat on the edge, letting the water run over their feet. Ten minutes later and Sasuke broke the silence.

"They're getting a divorce." He said, so low, Hinata wouldn't have heard if she had been any farther away.

Hinata almost asked who, but the answer was so obvious that she didn't have to. "I'm sorry," she replied, just as quiet.

Sasuke shook his head. "Don't be. I saw it coming. It's for the best."

Hinata bit her lip and looked at her raven haired friend. He was obviously hurting, but he kept acting like there was nothing wrong. Why wouldn't he open up to her? "It is for the best," the quiet girl began, "but that d-doesn't make it any, any e-easier to deal with."

The young male's black eyes turned to face the quiet girl for a moment. Slowly he nodded. "Yeah."

And that was enough. Sasuke was a man of few words, but Hinata could always get him to talk just enough to stop him from going insane.

Silence enveloped them again until an idea popped into Hinata's head. Smiling evily, she let her hand skim the water, nonchalantly. When she was positive Sasuke wasn't paying attenion, she shoved her hand deeper into the water and flung as much water as she could onto the silent boy beside her. Laughing, she jumped and ran, just as Sasuke yelled and chased after her.

When he finally caught her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, the momentum sending then both spinning until they tumbled to the ground. Hinata was still giggling, even though she winced at the pain from her injuries. Sasuke noticed her wince and frowned.

"You never told me what he did to you." He said, his unhappiness evident in his voice.

Hinata shook her head, frowning at her friend. "Don't do th-that, Sasuke-kun. We're having fun, now don't r-ruin it!"

"But, you had to have come to my house for a reason!"

"I did! I w-wanted to feel better. Yes, he b-b-beat me agai-again, but that happens a lot. What d-doesn't happen a lot is this. Us, having f-fun with no one else around without worrying wh-who sees. Please, don't ruin th-that."

Sasuke just sighed and wrapped his arms tighter around her. "I'm sorry, okay? I'll drop it."

Hinata smiled. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun!"

Smirking he replied with, "By the way, you stuttered nine times."

With that she hit his arm playfully and they laughed. Sasuke was still trying to get rid of her stutter. It had gotten better over the years, but hadn't comepletely went away.

"We should head home," Sasuke whispered, not wanting to break the silence.

"Yeah," came the quiet reply.

The drive home didn't seem to last nearly as long as the drive to the river did. Sasuke parked the car and they both quietly got out.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Sasuke whispered.

"See you tomorrow," she replied and turned to head home before remembering something. "Oh, and Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

Quickly, the shy girl kissed his cheek and gave him a hug. "Thank you for everything. It'll all be okay, I promise." Then, she turned and jogged home, hoping he didn't notice her blush.

Sasuke stood in the same spot for what seemed like forever. _'What was that?! Is that something most friends do?' _She had never kissed him before. She had hugged him plenty of times once she opened up to him a bit more, but never had she kissed him.

Finally, he made it back to his room and laid down in his bed. After glancing at his clock that read 1:38 on it in bold, glowing letters, he closed his eyes to go to sleep, one thought still running through his mind: _What _was _that?_

The morning after her night with Sasuke, Hinata woke up in a wonderful mood. She could tell this was going to be a good day. As she took her cold shower, she thought back to what she had done just before going home. Why had she done that? What made her think that would be a good idea? He was her friend, not her boyfriend or crush! Right?

Shaking it off, she refused to let her weird actions ruin her good mood. When she was finished getting dressed, she hurried through her morning routine: Make Hiashi's tea, bring Hiashi his tea, kiss Hanabi bye, nod goodbye to Neji, wait for them to leave, meet up with Shino, Kiba, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura.

"Hi, guys!" she said when she reached Shino and Naruto. The others weren't there yet.

"Hi, Hinata-chan!" Naruto replied boisterously while Shino nodded in greeting.

"How are y-you today?" she asked.

"I am well today, Hinata-chan. How are you?" Hinata giggled at the way Shino spoke. He was always so proper!

"I'm fine, thank you!" He simpy nodded.

"I'm good too!" Naruto replied.

"Geez, Naruto! I can hear you from down the street!" Sakura yelled, as she turned the corner that led to their meeting spot. Naruto just scratched the back of his head and laughed.

The next to arrive was Kiba. "Yo!" he yelled when he was about five feet away, flashing a toothy grin.

"What's up!" Naruto responded, while Kiba and himself did one of those "guy handshakes" Hinata had never learned how to do.

"So, are we waiting on Sasuke?" Kiba asked. Before anyone answered, a voice spoke up behind them.

"I'm here." Turning, they all saw Sasuke walking towards them.

"Great, now we can go!" Sakura said. They began walking, but Naruto stopped them.

"Wait!"

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

Once again, the blonde scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly. "I kinda promised Karin she could walk to school with us."

"You did _what_?" Sakura screeched. Hinata and Kiba held her back from beating Naruto to a pulp.

"Come one, Pinky, calm down!" Kiba growled. Finally, the pinkette stopped struggling and turned away with a 'humph!'

"You'll understand once you meet her." She said darkly. They didn't have to wait long. Soon a red-headed girl about 5'3" with crimson eyes and brown glasses walked over to the group.

"Hey, Losers!" She greeted with a smile. Sakura glared at her and Naruto again laughed guiltily. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata weren't sure how to respond and Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

Seeing as how Sakura was busy with her death glare contest with Karin and Naruto was trying to keep the peace, Hinata turned to Sasuke. "Why did she call us losers?" she asked.

Smirking, Sasuke replied, "Told you, she's a bi-"

Karin took this time to notice Sauske standing at the back of the group. "Sasuke-kun!" she screeched loudly, cutting off the dark haired male and reminding the group of a hyena.

Kiba stuck a finger in his ear, trying to make the ringing stop. "Damn, any louder and you could be used as a train whistle!"

Karin ignored the comment and went back to gushing over Sasuke. "I've missed you sooo much! What are you doing still hanging out with these losers?"

Hinata frowned at the whole scene. She had been talking to Sasuke and Naruto's cousin had interrupted- rudely, might she add! Why did she do that?

"Get off me, baka." Sasuke said, trying to shake the annoying girl off of his arm.

"But, Sasuke-kuuun!"

"I said get off!" Finally prying the girl away from his body, he quickly walked ahead, the group following. No one else said a word to Karin, except Naruto, who looked at her sadly and shook his head.

"You said you would be nice."

Karin humphed and followed behind the group of people.

_'So much for today being a good day,' _Hinata thought sadly.

The rest of the day went a lot like that. Karin would say rude and mean things to everone in the group, save Sasuke, and then attach herself like a leach to Sasuke. Whenever Hinata would be talking to Sasuke, Karin was somehow always there, ready to interupt the conversation and get Sasuke distracted. Sauske would sometimes be able to get away, but by the end of the day, Hinata just started walking away instead of waiting for Sasuke to get away from Karin. It was kind of sickening watching the way Karin swooned over the brooding Uchiha, honestly.

The relationship between Sasuke and Hinata didn't go unnoticed by Karin, either. In between fourth and fifth period, she pulled Naruto to the side.

"Sup, Cuz?" he said with a grin.

"What's going on between Sasuke-kun and that weird girl with the blue hair?" she replied, cutting right to the chase.

"You mean Hinata? They're like best friends, sort of, I guess? Except, Kiba and Shino are her actual best friends and me and Sakura are Sasuke' 's a kinda weird situation, but," he motioned for her to lean closer, a sly look on her face. "Me, Kiba, and Shikamaru have a bet going, saying they'll get together eventually."

Karin glared and her face started to turn red from anger. "Uh, Karin? Are you okay?"

Snapping back to reality, Karin glanced at Naruto. Plastering on a smile filled with bad intentions, she answered, "Of course, I'm fine! Now, tell me about this Hinata. She's new to your little freak show, right?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. "She's not really new to our group of friends," he said, emphasizing the 'group of friends' part, causing Karin to roll her eyes.

"Whatever, tell me about her."

The hyperactive blonde just sighed. "She's pretty quiet, but really nice. She hangs out with Kiba, Shino, and Sasuke mostly, but Ino and her hang a lot too. No one's ever been over to her house 'cause her dad is super strict and stuff, so I don't know anything about her home. Um..."

Naruto's thinking was interupted by his cousin's voice. "She sounds like a whore to me."

Naruto blinked and thought about what she said. He didn't describe her as a whore, did he? "What? No! She's not! How did you get that idea?"

Karin snorted. "Please. She hangs out with boys all the time, excpet for when she's with Ino, the biggest flirt in your circus of losers."

"No, that's not it at all!" Naruto replied. "She's not like that, okay? And Ino isn't that big of a flirt since she got with Shikamaru. Why do you have to continually put down my friends?"

Karin just rolled her eyes again. "Whatever. Sorry, Naruto, but none of you are winning that bet. Sasuke-kun and that tramp are _not_ getting together." Then she stomped off, leaving Naruto with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. _'Uh-oh...'_

Hinata and the others had just started their walk home when they were stopped by a voice behind them.

"Hey, wait! Sasuke-kun! Let me walk with you guys!" Turning around they saw the red headed demon herself.

"If we hurry, we can run before she catches us. There's no way she can run in those heels." Kiba whispered under his breath, causing the others to laugh.

"What's so funny, you guys?"

"Nothing!" Hinata squeaked out quickly, worried Sasuke or Kiba would tell her the truth. She didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. Karin just glared.

"Did I ask you?"

Hinata blushed and started playing with her index fingers. "Um, well, y-you said, uh, you g-guys, so, I assumed you, you were ask-asking everyone..." She said quietly.

"Well, I wasn't, Stupid."

Hinata blushed once again, thinking of a reply. "Well, who were you tal-talking to just th-then? Because my-my name isn't St-stupid, and neither are th-theirs," she said quietly, inwardly smiling at her retort. It wasn't much, but it was good for Hinata.

"Aw, don't bother with her, Hinata-chan. All that make-up on her face must be blocking her brainwaves. There's no point in arguing with someone like that." Hinata giggled quietly at her dog loving friend.

"Kiba is right, Hinata-chan. Let us leave, so we may avoid another fight."

Hinata nodded. "Alright, Shino-kun. Thank you guys!" She said and they all turned to leave.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you going to let them talk about me like that?"

Sasuke blinked. "Yeah, kinda." he said and continued walking with the others.

"Ugh!" Karin yelled and walked quickly to catch up with Sasuke, re-latching herself onto his arm. "Fine, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have called her stupid."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Don't apologize to me."

"Huh? Oh!" Turning to Hinata, she plastered on an obviously fake smile. "I'm sorry. Happy now?"

Hinata just giggled. "No, but I do forgive you."

Karin rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

By the time the group reached the fork where Hinata and Sasuke seperated, Karin was still there, much to the displeasure of the other two.

"Um, bye, Sasuke-kun," Hinata whispered.

"Oh? You're leaving? What a shame!" Karin exclaimed.

Hinata just bowed her head, tired of retorting Karin's nasty comments. Maybe Karin was right. Maybe she was stupid and a loser. Who was Hinata to tell her she was wrong?

Sasuke shook his head and sighed at the look on Hinata's face. She has enough confidence issues without Karin talking down to her all the time. It's only been one day and he could already tell it was effecting Hinata's thoughts. It's been years since she's had to worry about bullies at school. No matter how well she used to be able to handle it, she's obviously out of practice.

On a side note, Sasuke thinks, that's probably a good thing for most situations. Who wants to have a lot of practice dealing with bullies?

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hinata-chan," Sasuke said, bringing a small smile back to the young girl's face.

When Hinata had turned to leave, Sasuke power walked down the street, hoping he could lose Karin. No such luck.

"Why do you hang out with them? They're holding you back, you know?" Sasuke glared.

"Why are you such a horrible person? It's very unattractive, you know?" He shot back.

"I'm serious! You're hot! Why hang out with a bunch of nobodies who are going no where?"

"Hn." He replied. It wasn't that he didn't want to defend his friends, he's just not good at it. And why should he have to defend them against this girl anyway? She's not worth his- or his friends'- time.

Sasuke did a mental happy dance when he reached his house. Turning down his driveway, he was pulled back by Karin, who quickly kissed him then left, saying "Bye, Sasuke-kun!" in a sing-song voice.

Disgusted, he wiped his mouth and quickly walked in side to rinse his mouth out with mouthwash... Or gasoline. Gasoline might burn her germs better.

Karin walked into her house happily, having kissed Sasuke moments before. "Mom? Dad?" She shouted, listening for the sound of something living in her house. Walking into the kitchen, she saw a note on the table.

_Karin,_

_Dad's working late. I'm going out. Don't wait up. There's a TV dinner in the fridge if you get hungry._

_Mom_

Karin sighed. "Another night alone. Yay for me." she said, dejectedly.

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**A/N- Well, that's it for that chapter! It's not really all that exciting, but it's kind of like another beginning chapter. I have to re-introduce the characters because so much has changed within the two year time-skip.**

**Anyway, as I said before, message me with any question. Also, I REALLY NEED A BETA READER! If anyone is interested, I'd really appreciate it! =^.^=**

**Review please! Flames are accepted, as long as you have a valid reason, constructive critism is brilliant and praises make my day! :)**


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